FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 6, 2023) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron has challenged the Biden Administration’s most radical regulations yet on tailpipe emissions. The President’s plan would forcibly phase out gas-powered vehicles and restructure the automobile industry around electric vehicles (EVs) at a breakneck pace. The draconian proposal aims to boost certain EV sales from 8.4% of total vehicle sales today to 67% by 2032.
Attorney General Cameron and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey led 25 states in a letter opposing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plan, arguing the move would damage our economy, undermine the reliability of our electrical grids, tax the families and businesses who depend on them, and threaten our national security.
“President Biden wants to use the power of government to force a massive shift in demand for automobiles, with the government putting its thumb on the scale in favor of EVs. But Americans don’t want what he is selling,” said General Cameron. “This is the latest head-in-the-sand approach to achieving the left’s impossible green-energy fantasies. Government shouldn’t pick winners and losers, and an EPA rule that would kill gas-powered vehicles does just that.”
Kentucky and West Virginia’s coalition argues that the aggressive shift to EVs is counterproductive and misguided. America’s power grids not only lack the capacity to accommodate the proposed rule’s new demands but are also nowhere near secure enough to handle them safely. EPA’s also plan hinders American energy independence and makes the country less secure.
The attorneys general highlight how the Biden Administration’s fast-and-furious approach to electrification will have devastating consequences for the automotive supply chain. America would be weaker and more dependent on foreign adversaries like China, which supplies many of the minerals necessary for electric vehicles.
The average EV sold for $61,448 at the end of 2022. Now is not the time for the federal government to complicate the manufacturing process for cars and raise the average price significantly. Consumers are already experiencing record inflation, historic gasoline prices, and high utility bills. Since President Biden took office, food prices are up over 18%, and energy prices are up over 37%. Home prices have also surged more than 27% in fewer than three years. Many consumers will be unable to afford EVs even if they want them.
This is Attorney General Cameron’s latest effort to fight the Biden Administration’s fringe environmental policies and protect the economies of energy states like Kentucky. Earlier this year, General Cameron led a 19-state coalition in opposing the EPA’s excessive regulation of air quality standards. He also challenged proposals to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and to make illegal over 50 percent of gas stoves currently on the market.
To read the letter sent by the attorneys general, click here. General Cameron and General Morrisey are joined by: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.