EPA Set to Propose Stringent New Tailpipe Emission Limits Designed to Accelerate the Transition to Electric Vehicles

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to propose the toughest-ever standards for tailpipe emissions next week when President Biden travels to Detroit. Sources report that the proposed standards stop just short of an all-out ban on vehicles powered by internal combustion engines and designed to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. The proposed standards on cars and light trucks will attempt to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollution from vehicles manufactured for model years 2027 through 2032.

The Energy Marketers of America (EMA) and the Pennsylvania Petroleum Association (PPA) is concerned with the Biden Administration’s aggressive attempt to electrify the transportation sector because it would limit consumer choice on cleaner greener ICEs, increase Americans’ utility bills to subsidize a massive expansion of the electric grid for EV charging and threaten the viability and jobs of small business energy marketers around the country, whether they deliver gasoline and diesel or renewable fuels like ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel.

Environmentalists, public-health officials and electric-vehicle advocates have lobbied the administration to ensure requirements for model-year 2030 vehicles are 75 percent more stringent than those governing 2021 models. U.S. auto manufacturers are urging the EPA to extend the ambitious emission reduction timetable to make way for an orderly industrial transition to electric vehicles. One huge roadblock holding back the transition to electric vehicles is the lack of a nationwide charging infrastructure. Additionally, automakers already face global challenges obtaining battery materials, including China’s stranglehold on the industry and mining in Africa. Will they have everything they need to ramp up electric car production — and at what cost to the economy and the environment? Check out fuelmatters.org for more information.

The EPA is also set to propose new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty trucks and power plants later this month. EMA will report on developments regarding these proposed rules when they are released.