Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware urged the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt strict anti-pollution standards that would end sales of new, gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
Carper, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan late Thursday, imploring the agency to apply California’s fuel and efficiency standards and arguing that U.S. leadership on green technology will “encourage” businesses to invest in the United States rather than China, according to the Associated Press.
The senator reportedly asked the agency to follow a deal reached between California and multiple automakers that would raise the average vehicle fuel efficiency of 50 miles per gallon by 2026. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state will ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
At the time of publication, Carper’s office had not responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for additional comment.
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Conservatives and oil industry groups warned Newsom’s ban on gas vehicles oversteps his authority as governor and is “regressive.”
“Pursuing this goal would be among the most inefficient, unpopular, and regressive methods to reduce carbon emissions,” Chet Thompson, the CEO of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, said.
Newsom argued that the new rules weren’t “taking anything away” from consumers, but rather “providing an abundance of new choices and new technology.”
Both of California’s senators have asked President Joe Biden “to follow California’s lead and set a date by which all new cars and passenger trucks sold be zero-emission vehicles.”
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“We believe the national baseline should, at an absolute minimum, be built around the technical lead set by companies that voluntarily advanced their agreements with California,” Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein wrote. “California and other states need a strong federal partner.”
Biden has announced his own clean energy proposals, which include a $174 billion investment in the electric vehicle industry and a grant and incentive scheme to build 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. The administration’s plan, part of the larger American Jobs Act, would provide rebates and tax incentives for electric vehicle purchases.
