(ProsperNews.net) – The Republican-led House of Representatives has voted to block Biden administration plans to apply new limits on tailpipe pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first put the proposals forward in April in a bid to boost low electric vehicle (EV) sales. The plans would mean that two-thirds of cars sold in the US will be electric by 2032, a tenfold increase and what experts described as the most “aggressive” push of electric vehicles to date. The proposals set tailpipe emissions limits for the 2027 through 2032 model years.
Republicans say the proposals amount to a mandate for car manufacturers to produce EVs, which is an infringement of the free market and the right of Americans to make purchases in their own interests. Rep. Tim Walberg of Minnesota said, “Americans should have the right to decide what products and appliances work best for their family, not the federal government.”
The bill to block EPA plans was passed by 221 votes to 197 and will now travel to the Senate, where it is likely to fall due to Democrat dominance. However, in the House, five Democrats backed GOP efforts to stop the EPA plans. These were Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden from Maine, and Mary Peltola of Alaska.
Republicans also argue that US insistence on EV production boosts China at America’s expense because China dominates the global market for EV batteries. In response, the Biden administration recently unveiled restrictions on what components can be used in US EV manufacturing and excludes those from a “foreign entity of concern.” In other words, US manufacturers cannot use components sourced from China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea.
Critics of those proposals said they would merely slow down EV production and make Biden’s 2032 aspirations even less likely to be reached. The government said, however, that it was necessary to push back against US reliance on China.
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