The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed groundbreaking pollution regulations that will spark the electric vehicle revolution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Under this rule, electric vehicles could account for an estimated 67% of new passenger car sales in the US by 2032, with heavy-duty vehicles likely to rise further. This is a major achievement for a country where transport is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
“These actions will accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean vehicle future, address the climate crisis, and improve air quality in communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. said at the conference.
Currently a draft pending public comment, the rule will apply to vehicles sold between 2027 and 2032. Average emissions from new passenger cars are cut by more than half compared to existing standards. But will this proposal succeed and what impact will it have on climate change?
Can the US build enough electric cars in time?
The country has one of the largest car fleets in the world, so one question is whether it can scale up to even more electric vehicles in just a few years. Challenges include deploying charging infrastructure, increasing electric vehicle manufacturing capacity, and the need to convince people to change their habits.
But the rule is coming to an economy that is already ready to innovate and change, he said, as head of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality under former President Barack Obama. Margo Oge, who led the project, said:
In particular, the Infrastructure Act enacted by Congress in 2021 and the massive appropriations bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022 will charge federal funds for infrastructure and tax credits for consumers, and It’s pouring into manufacturers of cars or batteries to upgrade or build. New facility.
Innovation policy and technology from the International Council on Clean Transportation, a nonprofit research group in Washington, DC, and the consulting firm Energy San Francisco, California, even without EPA regulations. Robbie Orvis, senior director of Energy Innovation, said the EPA’s rule will help resolve lingering uncertainty about how federal incentives will work under the Inflation Reduction Act. increase.
How do you secure raw materials?
Lithium and cobalt are needed to make modern batteries, and the Biden administration is encouraging companies to purchase these and other materials through countries that have free trade agreements with the United States. The administration is also encouraging domestic manufacturing to secure supply chains and reduce reliance on China. Some tax credits are only available where battery and vehicle manufacturing is done in the United States, or where key minerals are sourced from free trade partners such as Chile, Australia, Canada and Mexico. But according to energy consultancy Bloomberg NEF, there have been no apparent problems so far with supplying essential minerals for electric vehicle batteries.
“Investments are going well and these countries can theoretically provide ample supply,” said Evelina Stoikou, an energy storage analyst at Bloomberg NEF in New York. However, she warns that demand from Europe and other regions will increase, so it will be important for the US to step up its international partnerships.
What impact will the rules have on climate change?
Initial estimates from the EPA indicate that the regulation will reduce carbon emissions by about 10 billion tons over the next 30 years. That’s more than double the US emissions last year and more than a quarter of his global total. “The administration will make history when it finally finalizes these new standards,” he says. “I’m really hopeful.”
Can a court challenge the rules?
U.S. courts have overturned environmental rules in the past, and the proposed rule could face challenges. But one of their advantages is that the EPA follows long-used procedures for controlling pollutants from vehicles and other sources. Rather than dictate technological change, authorities set pollution limits for automakers. It’s up to you, says Chester France, a former EPA official who is now a consultant at the Environmental Defense Fund, a New York City-based advocacy group. “I fully expect these standards to be legally permanent.”
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on April 12, 2023.
