US proposes tighter pollution rules to rev up transition to electric vehicles

Tighter rules would tackle planet-heating carbon emissions and improve air quality, Environmental Protection Agency says

The US government proposed tighter federal standards for tailpipe emissions on Wednesday which it believes will avoid billions of tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide (CO2).

The new rules are aimed at speeding up the shift from gas and diesel-powered cars to electric vehicles by setting tighter restrictions on grams of CO2 per mile.

The regulations would also improve air quality across the US, especially in communities which are disproportionately burdened by pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.

Cars, SUVs and pick-ups, along with heavy-duty vehicles like buses and trucks, will be impacted by the rules for model years 2027-2032.

The proposals would avoid nearly 10 billion tons of carbon emissions, EPA said, more than twice the total US emissions in 2022.

Transportation is the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions, at around 25 per cent. Cutting the sector’s carbon footprint is key to achieving the goal of cutting US domestic emissions in half by 2030.

EPA calculates that the proposed rules would increased EV share to 60 per cent of cars, SUVs, and pickups by the end of the decade.

It would also mean about 50 per cent of school buses, mail vans and garbage trucks go electric by 2032.

“These proposed standards will speed the United States’ auto industry toward an all-electric future faster than any regulation has before,” said Dan Lashof, US Director of the thinktank, World Resources Institute, in an email.

“The benefits of this plan extend far beyond tackling climate change. If implemented, the Biden administration’s plan is destined to prevent millions of asthma attacks and other harmful health effects and will keep America competitive as the global automotive industry shifts away from the antiquated internal combustion engine.”