Is it possible for the Federal Emissions Standards to expedite the adoption of electric vehicles?
Can Federal Emissions Standards Hasten the Transition to EVs?
Summary :
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed ambitious pollution standards that aim to reduce dangerous air and climate pollution by tightening emission standards for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles. The rules can only be met by transitioning to zero-emission vehicles, a move that is expected to significantly benefit families with lower fuel and maintenance costs. The proposal is certain to face legal challenges as an agency overreach. The EPA’s proposed tailpipe pollution limits for cars are intended to ensure that 67% of sales of new light-duty passenger vehicles will be all-electric by 2032 while 46% of new medium-duty trucks will use zero-emissions technology. Legal challenges are expected from those who see the proposal as government overreach.
Description :
The EPA has introduced two sweeping rules that will tighten emissions standards for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles, which can only be achieved by transitioning to zero-emission vehicles. The proposal is expected to be contested in court as an agency overreach.
“By proposing the most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks, we are delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s promise to protect people and the planet, securing critical reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution and ensuring significant economic benefits like lower fuel and maintenance costs for families,” said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan in his agency’s press release on Wednesday, April 12.
- The first set of proposed standards announced today, the ‘Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium Duty Vehicles,’ builds on EPA’s existing emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for MYs 2023 through 2026.
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“The second set of proposed standards announced today, the ‘Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3‘…would complement the criteria pollutant standards for MY 2027 and beyond heavy-duty vehicles that EPA finalized in December 2022 and represent the third phase of EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan.”
“The proposed tailpipe pollution limits for cars, first reported by The New York Times on Saturday [April 8], are designed to ensure that 67 percent of sales of new light-duty passenger vehicles, from sedans to pickup trucks, will be all-electric by 2032,” wrote Coral Davenport, climate reporter for The New York Times, on April 12 in the source article.
In addition, 46% of sales of new medium-duty trucks, such as delivery vans, will be all-electric or use some other form of zero-emissions technology by the same year, according to the proposed plan.
Legal Scrutiny Ahead
Davenport also notes that, unlike the California Air Resources Board, arguably the second-most powerful environmental regulatory authority in the US, the “E.P.A. cannot mandate that carmakers sell a certain number of electric vehicles.”
sources:
1- melk360.com ,Can Federal Emissions Standards Hasten the Transition to EVs? ,2023-04-17 16:00:00
2- https://www.planetizen.com/news/2023/04/122625-can-federal-emissions-standards-hasten-transition-evs?rand=493
