President Biden’s Electric-Vehicle Mandates are Costly and Unrealistic
On March 20th, President Biden authorized the largest government mandate of electric vehicles in American history. His administration finalized a rule first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), dramatically increasing the number of electric vehicles that automobile manufacturers would be required to assemble, and dealerships would subsequently be required to sell. This regulation, in turn, would force our families to purchase costly and unreliable electric vehicles, instead of allowing Americans to choose the best car or truck for themselves. This is not only devastating for rural communities that lack the necessary infrastructure, but also for states like Iowa where cold weather drastically impacts the performance of electric vehicles.
Under the Biden rule, 67% of new light-duty vehicles and 46% of medium-duty vehicles would be required to be electric by 2032. However, these mandates do not align with consumer demand. In 2023, according to Kelley Blue Book, electric-vehicle purchases comprised just slightly over 7% of the U.S. vehicle market. Yet, in just eight years, President Biden and his radical advisors at the EPA want that 7% figure to experience a meteoric rise at the expense of taxpayers. When I say, “at the expense of taxpayers,” I mean that. As part of President Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which did nothing to actually lower inflation, he created a $7,500 federal tax credit for people who buy an electric vehicle. Therefore, folks who would rather drive a gas-powered car have been forced to subsidize electric-vehicle purchases for wealthy people on the coasts. It’s a slap in the face to hardworking Americans who are struggling under the weight of persistent inflation and call places like rural Iowa home.
But President Biden didn’t stop his attacks on liquid fuels there. Just nine days after he approved his electric-vehicle mandate on American families, he authorized another EPA rule that would impact eight different classes of trucks and require a growing share of trucks – including semis – to be electric over the next decade. Iowa is a major throughway for freight. From food and fuel to furniture and fertilizer, our truckers work overtime to keep our shelves stocked and our supply chains moving. Federal overregulation like this new rule would increase costs for the everyday goods that our families rely on and contribute to nationwide trucker shortages preventing products from reaching the market in a timely fashion.
We know that when the federal government puts its thumb on the scale and distorts the free market, in this case, the price of vehicles increases, consumer choice declines, and families are stuck with additional costs that they didn’t ask for and can’t afford.
That’s why, in February, I teamed up with Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho to lead a letter with 140 of our colleagues to President Biden and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young urging the Biden administration to withdraw its electric-vehicle mandate. In fact, President Biden’s own Secretary of Energy admitted that four in five vehicles would still run on liquid fuels by 2050, undercutting the administration’s rushed and misguided efforts to transition the entire American auto market to electric power. I’m also currently reviewing action that we can take to stop President Biden’s burdensome regulations on our truckers. As China continues its crusade to diminish our economic power and world leadership, we cannot allow rogue federal agencies to jeopardize our already fragile supply chains and make our country more reliant on China and other foreign countries for basic, everyday goods.
As is commonplace with this administration, President Biden has his priorities misplaced. By forcing mandates on our families while inflation continues to rise, he is increasing costs for Americans at a time when they can least afford it. I’ll continue to work to deliver relief for families at the pump through the approval of year-round E-15 and oppose reckless regulations that hike prices for Iowans.
This op-ed was originally published in the Carroll Times Herald on April 15, 2024.