Staff Reports
The Biden administration is backtracking on their aggressive push for everyone to drive electric vehicles, and it’s all because of the big fuss kicked up by consumers, car unions, and the auto industry. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had some strict rules in place, forcing people to go electric, but now they’re easing off on the pressure.
Remember Biden's EV Mandate? Well…
https://t.co/lk7Qzwvz57— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 20, 2024
The new plan is to give car makers more time to switch over to electric vehicles, rather than rushing them to do it all by 2030. In fact, the sharp increase in electric vehicle sales might not even be required until after 2030. And guess what? The Biden administration plans to finalize this new rule by early spring, just in time for all the reelection drama.
This whole change comes as President Biden is struggling to tackle climate change and trying to keep everyone happy at the same time. He’s aiming to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from gas-powered vehicles, which are apparently the biggest source of those pesky emissions in the United States.
When the Biden EPA first announced their “strongest-ever” rule, they were dead set on getting at least 54 percent of new vehicles sold to be electric by 2030, and possibly up to 67 percent by 2032. That’s a pretty strict rule, definitely above and beyond what the auto industry had already agreed to in 2021.
But as it turns out, actually meeting this rule would cost a ton of money, and there were all sorts of other problems standing in the way. Ford, for example, figured out they’d lose over $30,000 on every electric vehicle they made. Even rental car company Hertz decided to trade in a third of their electric fleet for good old gas-powered vehicles. And the United Auto Workers even went on strike, partially because of Biden’s electric vehicle dreams.
It seems like the Biden administration is finally paying attention to all the complaints from the industry, workers, and people who just don’t want or can’t afford electric vehicles. A poll from the Job Creators Network (JCN) found that 70% of small business owners are against these electric vehicle rules. The JCN president and CEO, Alfredo Ortiz, is calling this a win for the people. He says that public pressure really does work and that the government needs to listen to what regular folks want, not just push their own agenda.
