The Biden administration took the first step to attack the main source of carbon emissions generated by the United States: cars and other forms of transportation.
In what is considered the most significant climate regulation in the country's history, what some call the war on fossil fuels, the US government will require manufacturers to make most new passenger vehicles and light trucks sold in The US will be electric or hybrid in 2032.
The objective is to reach 56% of emission-free electric cars in the total national fleet within eight years, plus 16% of new hybrid vehicles. In 2023, 1.2 million electric vehicles left dealerships. This figure only represents 7.6% of the ambitious goal set now.
“Today we are setting new pollution standards for cars and trucks,” said President Joe Biden. “American workers will lead the world in manufacturing clean vehicles, each with the ‘made in America’ seal, you have my word,” he promised.
After a long process of almost three years, this controversial attempt to accelerate the faltering transition to electric vehicles will transform the automobile market in this country with the new limits on tailpipe pollution launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ).
This process will require major changes in manufacturing, infrastructure, the workforce, global trade, and consumer habits.
Electric vehicles are a centerpiece of the Biden administration's strategy to confront global warming, in a bid to eliminate emissions by half by the end of this decade.
But these vehicles have also become politicized and transformed into a highly flammable element. Donald Trump fuels the bonfire by calling for gasoline vehicles and pleasing the more traditional sector. Last Saturday he even used excessive rhetoric and spoke of a "bloodbath" in the midst of an outburst against electric vehicles.
So, unlike a first regulation proposal tested last year, manufacturers will not need to drastically increase sales of these cars until after 2030. This temporary delay reflects the concession to unions in presidential year, a key electoral contingent for Democrats who have shown great concern about moving too quickly toward electric vehicles.
In another concession, the industry will be able to complement the boost in sales of electric units with hybrid vehicles.
“Three years ago I set an ambitious goal, that half of the new cars and trucks sold in 2030 will be zero emissions,” Biden recalled. “Together we have made historic progress. There are hundreds of new factories and expansions across the country, billions in private investment, and thousands of high-paying union jobs. And we will meet my goals for 2030 and the years to come,” he insisted.
The final regulation will still prevent more than 7.2 billion metric tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere through 2055, according to EPA data. It will also reduce fine particles and nitrogen oxides, preventing up to 2,500 premature deaths from air pollution from 2055.
Those more than seven metric tons are equivalent to eliminating, based on EPA calculations, the value of all the greenhouse gases generated during a year by the United States, the country that has historically dumped the most carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
This regulation will produce nearly $100 billion in annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion in public health through improved air quality.
These standards will also mean an average saving for each driver of $6,000 in refueling and vehicle maintenance, the environmental agency estimated.
This regulatory announcement comes at a time when the electric vehicle market has cooled. Sector data show that sales have increased by 40% in the fourth quarter of 2023, when the percentage had been 49% in the third quarter and a peak of 52% in the second.
