President Joe Biden is reportedly set to pump the brakes on his electric vehicle (EV) mandates on Americans only months before the 2024 presidential election.
In 2023, the Biden administration issued regulations requiring American automakers to ensure that nearly seven in ten new cars sold in the United States are EVs rather than gas-powered vehicles by 2032. The regulations would essentially mandate that American consumers buy EVs.
Facing severe unpopularity, Biden is now looking to slow down the EV mandates while not actually pulling them off the books altogether, according to the New York Times:
In a concession to automakers and labor unions, the Biden administration intends to relax elements of one of its most ambitious strategies to combat climate change, limits on tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, according to three people familiar with the plan. [Emphasis added]
Instead of essentially requiring automakers to rapidly ramp up sales of electric vehicles over the next few years, the administration would give car manufacturers more time, with a sharp increase in sales not required until after 2030, these people said. They asked to remain anonymous because the regulation has not been finalized. The administration plans to publish the final rule by early spring. [Emphasis added]
The slowing down of Biden’s EV mandates would come shortly after United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain endorsed the president for reelection while admitting that “working-class people are hurting” under Biden and that most American auto workers will vote for former President Donald Trump instead.
“Look, let me be clear about this. A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden. Yes, some will. But that’s the reality of this,” Fain said in January. “The majority of our members are going to vote with their paychecks…”
Trump has warned that Biden’s EV mandates could wipe out millions of American auto jobs and jobs in supporting industries because the cars do not require as much labor.
Likewise, Biden has vowed to fight Trump’s tariff plan, which would hit all imports with a ten percent tariff, even as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that without tariffs, China will “demolish” the American auto industry with cheap EVs.
A January poll shows that most swing state voters oppose Biden’s EV mandates for the auto industry and consumers.
For example, 61 percent of Arizona voters, 87 percent of Michigan voters, 57 percent of Pennsylvania voters, 66 percent of Ohio voters, 61 percent of Nevada voters, and 64 percent of Wisconsin voters said they do not support Biden’s EV mandates. Overall, 60 percent of voters across the nation oppose the mandates.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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