More than 4,700 auto dealerships across the United States urged President Joe Biden in a letter Thursday to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to enforce stricter vehicle-pollution standards.
Quick Read
Key Points of Auto Dealers’ Letter to President Biden on EPA Emission Standards:
- Dealerships’ Appeal to Biden: Over 4,700 U.S. auto dealerships have written to President Joe Biden, requesting a halt to the EPA’s enforcement of stricter vehicle-pollution standards.
- Timing of the Request: The letter was sent weeks before the EPA’s expected ruling on new tailpipe-emissions regulations aimed at combating climate change and reducing health-harmful pollutants.
- Previous Communication Unanswered: The dealerships noted that the administration did not respond to their initial letter sent on November 28.
- EPA’s Proposed Regulations: The EPA’s proposal could lead to the strictest tailpipe emissions limits to date, requiring a significant increase in electric vehicle (EV) sales by 2032.
- Dealerships’ Concerns: Auto dealers expressed concerns about meeting the proposed regulations, citing factors like inadequate EV supply, insufficient charging infrastructure, and lagging consumer demand.
- Impact on Emissions and Health: The proposed regulations aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 56% and health-harmful pollutants by 60% by model year 2032 compared to existing standards.
- Automakers’ Shift to Electric Vehicles: Global automakers are committing significant resources to transition to electric vehicles, with U.S. EV sales growing significantly in recent years.
- Challenge in Meeting EPA Goals: Dealerships argue that the current market conditions make it unrealistic to meet the EPA’s goals under the proposed mandate.
- EPA’s Flexibility in Compliance: The EPA regulations allow for a mix of EV, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid sales, and the use of particulate filters for internal combustion engines to meet standards.
- Separate Regulations for Trucks and Fuel Economy: The EPA is also proposing regulations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed increasing fuel economy.
The letter from the auto dealerships highlights the industry’s challenges in adapting to stricter environmental regulations and the tension between advancing climate goals and current market realities.
The Associated Press has the story:
Auto dealers up campaign urging Biden to halt EPA tailpipe emission limits regulation
Newslooks- DETROIT (AP) —
More than 4,700 auto dealerships across the United States urged President Joe Biden in a letter Thursday to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to enforce stricter vehicle-pollution standards.
The missive comes just weeks before the agency’s expected ruling on its tailpipe-emissions proposal, which addresses both climate change and pollutants that are harmful to health.
It is the second letter that auto dealers have sent to the White House in two months on the EPA’s upcoming ruling, which could codify the agency’s strictest-ever tailpipe emissions limits, proposed last April. The dealerships said Thursday that the Biden administration did not respond to their first letter sent on Nov. 28.
The agency and administration did not return request for comment.
With the world focused on trying to limit warming to no more than 1.5-degree Celsius temperature above pre-industrial times, the administration has an ambitious goal to cut domestic planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Part of its focus is on the transportation sector, 58% of the emissions from which come from passenger cars and trucks, according to the EPA. The regulation also limits hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter into the air. These emissions cause a host of health issues and disproportionately affect people who live near heavy traffic.
The EPA says its proposed regulations would require up to two out of every three vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032. That’s higher than the administration’s target of 50% set two years ago.
The regulations, which impact light- and medium-duty vehicles beginning with the 2027 model year, could mean a 56% drop in projected greenhouse gas emissions from the fleet, relative to existing standards, avoiding nearly 7.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2055. They also reduce pollutants harmful to health by 60% from the existing standard by model year 2032.
Most automakers around the globe have pledged hundreds of billions of dollars to transition to all-electric new vehicle sales in the coming decade as momentum to address climate change builds. Last year, U.S. EV sales overall grew 47% to a record 1.2 million, according to Motorintelligence.com. EVs are seeing year-over-year growth, but only hit 7.6% of overall market share in 2023.
Given that, thousands of auto dealers say they won’t be able to meet the EPA’s stringent goals.
Nearly 4,000 dealerships of the nearly 17,000 franchised shops nationwide asked Biden to “tap the brakes” on the EPA proposal in the November letter, referring to the rules as an “electric vehicle mandate.” House Republicans approved a bill in December to block the pollution limits and also called the rules a mandate.
In this week’s letter, the dealerships asked Biden to “hit the brakes” entirely, citing several factors that they say indicate slowing EV adoption. The signers said the supply of EVs on dealer lots is twice that of internal combustion engine vehicles, and that they won’t be able to sell EVs at the rate the regulations would require.
“It is uncontestable that the combination of fewer tax incentives, a woefully inadequate charging infrastructure, and insufficient consumer demand makes the proposed electric vehicle mandate completely unrealistic,” the letter says.
The EPA’s tailpipe-pollution limits wouldn’t require automakers to sell a specific number of EVs every year.
Automakers can meet EPA regulations not just through pure-electric vehicle sales, but also through a sales mix including hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The EPA has also said that the auto industry could employ widespread use of particulate filters, which mitigate the soot emitted from internal-combustion engines.
The EPA is also proposing regulations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and the government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has separately proposed a fuel-economy increase.
