The Environmental Protection Agency’s new car-pollution rules, proposed on Wednesday, represent one of President Biden’s most aggressive policies to tackle climate change to date. If enacted, the tailpipe standards would have the effect of making U.S. emissions standards so strict over the next decade that electric vehicle sales would climb radically—from 5.8% of vehicles sold last year, to an estimate of 64% to 67% by 2032. At a press conference Wednesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the regulations “the strongest-ever federal pollution standards for cars and trucks.”
Ultimately, the Biden administration claims it could cut car exhaust in half. The proposed regulations are the latest in a yearslong push to make America’s car industry greener. Early in his presidency, Biden declared: “The future of the auto industry is electric. There’s no turning back.” The EPA’s proposed rule change is evidence that the administration is sticking with that—but transforming America into a country where there are no gas engines in two-thirds of all new cars sold will be a bumpy ride, which requires addressing several challenges of EVs.
Dispatches From The Front 