FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of 25 state attorneys general on Thursday filed a legal challenge against the Biden administration over recent environmental regulations targeting emissions from gasoline-powered cars and promoting electric vehicles.
Led by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the coalition filed a challenge against the Environmental Protection Agency with the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to declare the new rules illegal. According to the filing, EPA regulations impose “unworkable emissions standards” on passenger cars and medium-duty vehicles.
“Conservative attorneys general are holding back President Biden’s radical green agenda, which is using the weight of the federal government to impose expensive electric vehicles on families, workers and farmers,” Coleman said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Even if Americans wanted to buy an electric car, we couldn’t afford it in the midst of historic inflation,” he continued. “We are taking President Biden’s EPA to court to block this latest big government mandate and protect the free market.”
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Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman speaks during an event in Fancy Farm, Kentucky, on August 5, 2023. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In a joint announcement with the White House last month, the EPA issued the regulations, which are the most aggressive multi-pollutant emissions standards ever finalized. Those rules were officially published Thursday, opening the door to legal challenges and congressional resolutions.
While the regulations target gasoline-powered vehicles, they are explicitly designed to push for greater range, nationwide adoption of electric vehicles and, to a lesser extent, hybrid cars. President Biden said after the rules were finalized that they would help ensure the US meets its goal of having electric vehicles make up 50% of all new car sales by 2030.
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According to the standards, car manufacturers will be forced quickly curb emissions of greenhouse gases, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter from new passenger cars, light trucks, and larger pickup trucks and vans starting in two years with vehicles from the 2027 model year. The EPA said the rules will help “tackle the climate crisis” by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector.
President Biden, left, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. (Getty Images)
When tailpipe emissions standards go into effect, automakers will be forced to increase production and sales of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, traditional hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. Under one of the so-called “low-cost” models, the EPA said automakers would be forced to ensure that 56% of light-duty car sales are battery electric and another 13% are hybrids by 2032.
“Kentucky is an agricultural state and electric vehicles are not robust enough to keep up with our farmers,” said Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell. “We’ve put many miles on Kentucky Department of Agriculture vehicles to serve rural communities, and we can’t stop on the side of the road to plug them in. The Biden administration is committed to doing this in rural America, and “I’m proud. Kentucky is leading the fight to stop them.”
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Joining Kentucky and West Virginia in the legal challenge filed Thursday are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
Even accounting for generous federal and state subsidies, the average cost of an electric vehicle is about $52,500, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, while the average gasoline subcompact car costs $24,000. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
The EPA regulations have been harshly criticized by state officials, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, agricultural industry groups such as the National Corn Growers Association, and energy associations such as the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute.
In 2023, 9.5% of new light vehicle sales were electric vehicles, up from 7% in 2022 and 4.3% in 2021. according to data of the Automotive Innovation Alliance, an industry group representing major automakers. At the same time, electric vehicles remain more expensive than traditional gasoline-powered cars.
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And the share of Americans who said they are considering purchasing an electric vehicle has decreased from 55% to 44% year over year. according to a Gallup poll held in March.
Calls to the EPA seeking comment were not immediately returned.
