The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that it was increasing limits on pollution from automobile tailpipes in a bid to reduce a major source of carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the planet.
The rule would require passenger vehicles to travel an average of 55 miles per gallon of gasoline, up from 38 miles per gallon today.
The release of climate-warming carbon dioxide would be prevented by that. Motorists would save over a thousand dollars in fuel costs over the lifetime of more efficient vehicles, the agency estimated.
After the centerpiece of the president's climate agenda, far-reaching legislation that would have transformed the energy and transportation sectors, was essentially scuttled on Sunday by Senator Joe Manchin III, the Biden administration is expected to lean heavily on executive action and regulations.
The tailpipe rule, which will take effect in 60 days and apply to model years 2023 to 2026, is a return of sorts to regulations enacted by the Obama administration in 2012 which required that passenger vehicles sold by automakers achieve an average of roughly 51 miles per gallon by 2025. The standard was weakened by President Donald J. Trump to 44 miles per gallon by the year 2020.
The administrator of the E.P.A. said that they followed the science, listened to stakeholders, and set robust and rigorous standards that will aggressively reduce the pollution that is harming people and our planet.
The transportation sector is the largest single source of greenhouse gases in the United States.
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The administrator of the E.P.A. said in a statement that they followed the science, listened to stakeholders, and were setting robust and rigorous standards.
According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency, nations would have to stop the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by the year 2035 in order to keep global temperatures from rising more quickly than during the Industrial Revolution. Scientists say the Earth faces irreversible damage beyond that threshold. Since the late 1800s, the planet has warmed an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius.
The new tailpipe rule is the first step in Mr. Biden's push to shift American drivers from cars and trucks powered by the internal combustion engines of the last century to zero-emission electric vehicles.
Jeff Alson, a former E.P.A. senior engineer and policy adviser who worked on the Obama auto emissions standards, said that the Biden rule is basically recapturing the emissions cuts that we lost during the Trump roll back. It isn't going to get us anywhere near the level we need to reduce vehicle emissions to protect the planet.
The tax incentives to speed up the adoption of electric vehicles have been stuck in limbo on Capitol Hill because of opposition from Mr. Manchin. There is a tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of electric vehicles, and an additional incentive of $4,500 if the vehicles are assembled by union workers.
Mr. Biden wants electric vehicles to make up 50 percent of all new car sales by the year 2030. Mr. Biden faces a challenge that electric cars are not on track to meet.
A significant step was taken last month when Congress passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that included $7.5 billion to build about 500,000 electric charging stations nationwide. Mr. Biden ordered the federal government to purchase zero-emission cars and trucks by the year 2035.
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There is an electric vehicle charging station. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress included $7.5 billion to build charging stations.
Climate advocates say more is needed to reach Mr. Biden's goal.
Dan Becker is the director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity. We need an aggressive rule to phase out the gasoline-powered vehicles that are guzzling and pollution-causing and replace them with electric vehicles that have no tailpipe.
The E.P.A. is working on a future regulation that would force the auto industry to sell more electric vehicles. They hope to publish a draft in 2022, and finish it before Mr. Biden ends his term.
Because tailpipe emissions rules pertain to the average mileage per gallon of all vehicles sold by a carmaker, stringent standards are designed to force auto companies to sell more electric cars to offset the sales of conventional pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles and other models that get low mileage. The Ford F-150 is the most popular vehicle in the country, but it only gets 20 miles per gallon.
Major automakers have pledged to invest in electric vehicles. G.M. said it will go all electric by the year 2035. Ford has said that it will sell only electric vehicles in leading markets like the U.S., China and Europe by the year 2040. The electric version of the F-150 will be available from January.
The government needs to help the auto industry to make it easier for consumers to buy and charge their cars.
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President Biden visited a General GM electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit last month.
John Bozella, president of the Alliance for automotive innovation, said that the final rule for greenhouse gas emissions is even more aggressive than originally proposed. The final rule will require enactment of supportive governmental policies, including consumer incentives, substantial infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for U.S. manufacturing and supply chain development.
Republicans oppose new tailpipe regulations. As people struggle to stretch their last dollar to afford reliable transportation amid rising gasoline prices, this administration is asserting more control over the vehicles we drive to work, take our children to school, and live our lives. The push for electric vehicles will make America more dependent on Chinese supply chains and hurt our global competitive edge.
The production of an electric vehicle requires about one-third less human labor than a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. The proposed tax credits that would reward buyers for purchasing union-made electric vehicles is one of the policies that Mr. Biden has sought to win them over.
Lisa Friedman was involved in the report.
