WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and a group of Republican colleagues reintroduced the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act to repeal the aggressive Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tailpipe rule from President Biden and Vice President Harris amid their efforts to phase out gas-powered cars and trucks. The CARS Act protects Louisianans’ right to choose what cars they drive and works to prevent future regulations on affordable, reliable vehicles.
“Making Louisiana families pay for EV tax breaks for rich peoples’ cars was one of the many bad things the Biden Administration did,” said Dr. Cassidy. “The CARS Act helps fix this damage!”
“The rule-making process under the previous Administration pushed a radical green agenda that harmed consumer choice in the automobile industry,” said Senator Crapo. “Americans deserve to have access to affordable, reliable vehicles fueled by American-made energy products. However, the EPA’s tailpipe rule will hurt everyday Americans while simultaneously helping China. Consequences of rules and regulations such as these restrict consumer choice and raise costs for the average American family.”
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the EPA finalized a 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 these vehicles and is a de facto EV mandate. Under the rule, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles–which still represent the overwhelming majority of new car sales–can make up no more than 30 percent of new sales by 2032.
The average price of an electric vehicle (EV) is still significantly higher than the average price of a gas-powered vehicle, even with massive government subsidies for EVs paid for by American taxpayers. EV mandates threaten to hurt everyday Americans and cost auto workers their jobs while simultaneously helping China, given that China continues to dominate the EV supply chain. In recent years, demand for EVs made up less than ten percent of new car sales.
The CARS Act would:
- Rescind the EPA tailpipe emissions rule;
- 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;
- 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
- End the EPA’s radical agenda, which is driving up costs for people and handing the keys of America’s auto industry to China.
Cassidy and Crapo were joined by U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Florida), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Jim Justice (R-West Virginia), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) in cosponsoring the bill.
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