Sens. Cruz, Crapo, Ricketts Introduce Legislation to Halt Biden Electric Vehicles Mandate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) along with some of their colleagues in the Senate introduced the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act to counter the Biden administration’s executive overreach banning gasoline powered vehicles and establishing an electric vehicle mandate. The bill prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing its rule that would limit what cars and trucks Texans can buy under the pretext of emissions reductions.

Upon introduction, Sen. Cruz said, “The Biden administration has continuously abused the executive rule-making process to push their radical climate agenda. Now, the EPA’s extreme electric vehicle mandate is holding American consumers hostage by restricting consumer choice, driving up prices, and killing American manufacturing jobs while also increasing our dependence on foreign adversaries like China. It is imperative that we put American energy production, economic opportunity, and national security above the Democrats’ woke climate agenda.” 

Sens. Cruz, Crapo, and Ricketts were joined by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in introducing the legislation.

Representative Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives in July of 2023.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Sen. Cruz has previously criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to use the regulatory process to mandate electric vehicles, calling out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for model years 2027-2032, and opposing President Biden’s violation of the Vacancies Act to keep radical nominee Ann Carlson as the acting head of NHTSA even after the Senate rejected her nomination.

BACKGROUND:

On April 12, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a draft rule titled “Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles,” which sets stringent emissions standards for criteria pollutants and greenhouse gasses for certain vehicles.  This rule is the most aggressive tailpipe emissions proposal ever crafted and a de facto mandate for mass production of electric vehicles (EVs).  The EPA has projected that, if finalized, over two-thirds of all new vehicles could be electric by 2032.

The average price of an EV is over $17,000 more than the average price of a gas-powered vehicle, according to data from Kelley Blue Book.  The Biden administration’s continued push for EVs threatens everyday Americans with higher costs and reduces jobs for auto workers while simultaneously helping China, given their dominance of the EV supply chain.

The Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act:

• Would prohibit the EPA from finalizing, implementing or enforcing its proposed emissions rule;
• Would prohibit the use of authority under the Clean Air Act to issue regulations that mandate the use of any specific technology or that limit the availability of new motor vehicles based on that vehicle’s engine type.  This includes any regulation prescribed on or after January 1, 2021;
• Would require the EPA to update any regulations since January 1, 2021, that result in the limited availability of new vehicles based on that vehicle’s engine within two years; and
• Would end the EPA’s radical agenda, which is driving up costs and handing the keys of America’s auto industry to China.

The bill is supported by the American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, National Propane Gas Association, National Association of Convenience Stores, National Association of Truck Stop Operators, SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers, Idaho Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, Energy Marketers of America, American Exploration and Production Council, American Energy Alliance, Western Energy Alliance, National Taxpayers Union, National Association of Small Trucking Companies, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Idaho Farm Bureau, American Farm Bureau, National Corn Growers Association, National Automobile Dealers Association, Idaho Automobile Dealers Association, Texas Automobile Dealers Association, Montana Automobile Dealers Association, Specialty Equipment Market Association, Heritage Action, and Americans for Prosperity.

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