While the Biden Administration is pushing for the shift to renewable power through the reduction of fossil fuel use and the mainstream adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), governors hailing from the Republican Party beg to differ.
Sixteen of these governors released an open letter on Monday, January 22nd, declaring their opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to implement a new set of pollution standards for all land vehicles. According to the letter, the majority of Americans do not wish to shift to EVs and have no interest in them.
The Republicans urged the government to rethink its mandates regarding the domestic vehicle market. They explained that American consumers need to be allowed to make their own choices about the types of vehicles they wish to drive. According to the authors of the letter, they are concerned by the way the federal government seeks to penalize retailers, but are not truly opposed to the sale of EVs in the domestic market.
Among other points underscored in the letter are the need to build better infrastructure to support the necessary charging stations for a transition to EVs, augment domestic EV battery production, and ensure that power grids have sufficient capacity.
The letter’s signatories include Sarah Sanders of Arkansas, Brad Little of Idaho, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Mike Parson of Missouri, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Joe Lombardo of Nevada, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Greg Abbott of Texas, Spencer Cox of Utah, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, and Mark Gordon of Wyoming. Interestingly, there were no Democrats among the signatories.
Currently, EPA officials are pushing for at least two-thirds of all new vehicles sold by 2032 to be electric. In their proposal, however, they did not mandate the use of particular technologies and also pointed out how both conventional combustion engines and new transport technologies will play significant roles in the overall reduction of carbon emissions.
