The US House of Representatives voted: 215-191to roll back an Environmental Protection Agency rule on Friday that had tightened standards on air pollution from car and truck tailpipes.
Eight Democrats voted with all but one Republican present for a resolution under the Congressional Review Act that allows Congress to repeal certain executive branch rules, the rule This was announced in March.
The regulation would create a multi-year timetable to reduce the limit on greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars by almost half by 2032.
Democrats Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Mary Peltola of Alaska and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted for the resolution.
Republican Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania was the only GOP member to vote against the resolution.
President Joe Biden has announced that he will veto the resolution if it lands on his desk.
“The rule sets performance-based standards that manufacturers can meet by using a broad range of technologies, avoiding over seven billion tons of carbon emissions while significantly reducing emissions of other pollutants,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement about the administration’s policy. “These standards will provide important health benefits to millions of people across the country.”
“Force-fed with electric vehicles”
Republicans argued in the House on Friday that the rule would impose a requirement on U.S. consumers to buy electric vehicles (EVs), which they say are still plagued with reliability issues, especially for drivers in rural areas and colder climates.
“Americans are being forced to adopt electric vehicles and are being fed the lie that driving electric vehicles will save the planet,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Arkansas.
Democrats, who overwhelmingly support the bill, called it a common sense measure to reduce pollutants that cause climate change and health problems such as asthma.
According to Frank Pallone of New Jersey, a senior Democrat in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the rule is not mandatory for electric vehicles.
“We are not mandating electric vehicles, we are not forcing anyone to use electric vehicles. I will say that again and again,” Pallone said. “We are trying to reduce air pollution, and this resolution is a step backwards in combating dangerous air pollution.”
The resolution’s sponsor, Representative John James of Michigan, was among the Republicans who made an economic argument against the EPA rule: It would drive up vehicle costs that many Americans cannot afford.
“I think of every hardworking American that Washington forgot when we talked about making affordable vehicles and creating a competitive nation,” he said.
save money
Colorado Democratic Representative Diana DeGette countered that argument, saying the standards “would save the average American driver an estimated $6,000 over the lifetime of a vehicle.”
“My colleagues across the aisle seem to think this is bad for consumers, when in reality it is good,” she said.
The transportation sector is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. on the EPA ruleThe sector accounts for 29 percent of emissions, with featherlight commercial vehicles covered by the regulation causing 58 percent of these emissions.
