On Wednesday, a group of Republicans in the Senate presented a bill to stop rules targeting standard gas-powered cars.
The Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act — introduced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., along with Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, John Hoeven, R-N.D., Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. — would block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing waivers to states seeking to ban or limit internal combustion engine vehicles.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA can give California a waiver to have more rigid pollution rules than the federal government.
Mullin told Fox News Digital, “California’s waivers are not about clean energy; they are about control.” “Democrats want to control every part of Americans’ lives, including what cars they drive. If it were about clean energy, the answer wouldn’t be to ban tailpipe emissions in favor of electric vehicles that put stress on a shaky grid.
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“This bill will make sure that Americans can choose the best car for themselves and their families, and that choice will determine the market,” he said.
In March 2022, the EPA restored California’s power under the Clean Air Act to set its pollution limits and sales requirements for electric vehicles. It also permitted other states to follow California’s rules. The state did this after the Trump administration took away its right to make its own rules that went against federal ones.
A few months later, in August, the California Air Resources Board, the state’s top environmental body, passed rules that all new cars sold in the state, which sells the most cars yearly, must have zero emissions by 2035. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California was happy about the new rules and said the state would continue to “lead the revolution towards our zero-emission transportation future.”
Also, 17 states have rules that tie their pollution standards for vehicles to those in California. This means that the electric vehicle mandate would affect all Americans. Overall, it is thought that the states that follow California’s 2035 rule account for more than 40% of all car sales in the United States.
When he was mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom held a power cord before taking a hybrid Toyota Prius for a test drive.
“Capitalism has already shown that the vast majority of new cars bought in the United States still have internal combustion engines,” said Mullin. “Not only that, but it makes America less safe when we have to get important minerals from countries that are our enemies.”
“I won’t stand by and let the federal government tell people in Oklahoma what to buy, especially when our national security is at stake.”
Mullin’s bill is similar to one that Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., and three other Republicans in the House of Representatives put forward earlier this year.
“California’s request for a discriminatory waiver would set a costly and dangerous precedent,” Joyce said. “One state shouldn’t be able to tell the rest of the country what to do, and Americans shouldn’t be forced to buy things they can’t afford.”
“Congress must pass the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act right away to stop this heavy-handed proposal that only takes away choices from American consumers.”
