Democrats on a
Virginia
Senate committee blocked a GOP-led effort to repeal parts of a state law designed to increase the uptake of
electric vehicles
by adopting California’s strict air quality standards, thwarting the efforts of Gov.
Glenn Youngkin
(R-VA).
The Tuesday party-line
vote
killed legislation that would have prohibited the State Air Pollution Control Board from implementing a low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program for motor vehicles beginning with model year 2025 cars. It would also have expressly prohibited the state from requiring new vehicles to comply with emissions standards adopted by California under the federal Clean Air Act.
A Virginia law passed during former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s tenure provides for the state to comport its standards with California’s, which has a special waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency to set its own Clean Air Act standards. California will also ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035.
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Youngkin sought to claw back the standards, arguing they are too aggressive and infringe on personal freedom. He also argued regulations requiring more EVs would put a strain on the state’s electricity grid.
“What the previous administration did was outsourced it to California to bureaucrats that aren’t even elected by Virginians to dictate whether we buy cars that are powered by electricity or by fossil fuels,” Youngkin
said
in a recent interview. “This should be a decision taken by Virginians.”
The first-term governor
released
his 2022 energy plan in October, recommending legislators reevaluate the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a 2020 law that set deadlines for the state’s utilities to cease generating electricity from fossil fuels and rely on renewable sources such as wind and solar instead, and to cut the link between Virginia’s and California’s air regulations.
Environmental groups and Virginia Democrats supported the standards designed to reduce pollution.
Democrats control the state Senate, while Republicans control the House of Delegates and are expected to approve a measure to repeal the air quality standard requirements.
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More than a dozen mostly Democratic-led states, including Vermont, New York, and Oregon, have adopted California’s standards.
