Republican attorneys general from 25 states are warning the Biden administration that a proposal to force carmakers to go electric in the name of fighting climate change is unlawful, a precursor for what the GOP officials tell The Washington Times is a looming legal battle.
The officials told the Environmental Protection Agency that its proposed emissions reduction rule for tailpipes that critics have described as a “de facto ban” on gas-powered vehicles is “unlawful, unwise and unsustainable.”
“While billed as tightening existing standards for ‘criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from’ certain motor vehicles … the proposed rule is, more accurately, the next phase in a top-to-bottom attempt to restructure the automobile industry,” the attorneys general wrote to the EPA in a letter released Thursday under the proposal’s public comment period. “Congress did not give EPA that power.”
In their 20-page letter, the attorneys general reference 17 previous or ongoing court cases — many against the EPA — to bolster their argument that the administration is overstepping its legal authority. Their objections serve as a foreshadow to how the officials would shape a legal challenge, should the proposal be finalized.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who helped lead the AGs’ response, told The Washington Times they’re prepared to take legal action.
“There is a pattern with which we’ve tried to conduct ourselves. We try to make sure that we follow protocol,” Mr. Cameron said. “When the EPA does something in the rulemaking context… we have a responsibility to let them know that their decision, their policy, is outside the framework of what they’re allotted to do.”
The administration is already facing other environmental lawsuits brought by similar coalitions of Republican attorneys general. Those challenges are against the EPA’s so-called WOTUS rule that increases federal authority over small waterways like streams and wetlands; the EPA allowing California to set its own vehicle emission standards stronger than the federal government’s; and the EPA’s greenlight of a California regulation to transition diesel trucks and semis to electric.
The Supreme Court ruled last year in West Virginia v. EPA that the agency had limits in regulating power plant emissions. The case, which was cited by the Republican AGs, was brought by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, another signatory of the letter to the EPA.
“At the end of the day, when we enter into litigation, it’s not about animus,” Mr. Cameron said. “It’s not about anything other than standing up for the values and interests of our state, and standing up for common sense ideals and making sure that the Biden administration plays inside the bounds, not only of our constitution, but the statutory framework that’s been set up by Congress.”
The EPA’s vehicle emissions rule would result in stringent emissions-slashing for light- and medium-duty vehicles starting in 2027, with the administration saying automakers’ sales must be 60% electric by 2030 and 67% EV by 2032. The effort is part of President Biden’s green energy agenda to combat climate change.
Such a rapid phaseout of gas-powered vehicles, the Republican officials said, would jeopardize consumer safety, economic stability and national security.
“Forcing that market transformation goes far beyond the statutory limits Congress set,” they wrote. “And it is bad policy.”
Industry analysts, automakers and Big Oil also have pushed back against the proposed rule as unfeasible in such a short window.
In separate comments submitted to the EPA, the American Petroleum Institute said such a regulation would be a “de facto ban” on internal combustion engines “that will eliminate competition, distort the market and restrict consumer choice, while being potentially more costly to taxpayers.”
The U.S. auto industry’s top trade group, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, told the EPA that the proposal was “out of whack” and “neither reasonable nor achievable in the time frame provided.”
The comments from the attorneys general were led by Mr. Cameron and Mr. Morrisey, both of whom are running for governor.
The 23 other signatories are from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
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• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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