Recently, the administration of US President Joe Biden announced a plan to relax the limits on emissions from the exhaust pipes of vehicles, aiming to encourage Americans to switch from gasoline-powered cars to electric ones. This is part of Biden's comprehensive strategy to cope with climate change and promote clean energy.
According to the New York Times, the new regulation will give car manufacturers more time instead of requiring them to quickly increase sales of electric cars in the next few years, and also said that the new regulation could be announced in early spring. This change means that sales of electric cars will not need to increase sharply until after 2030.
Specifically, the administration will require car manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions at an average rate of 3.7% per year for vehicles produced from 2022 to 2026, compared to an average rate of 5% per year according to the standard issued in 2012 under President Barack Obama. By 2030, car manufacturers will have to ensure that at least 40% of cars sold are electric.
The spokesperson of the US Environmental Protection Agency said that the final draft rule titled "Multi-Pollutant Emission Standards for Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles" - is in the process of inter-agency review. The spokesperson added that the agency is committed to completing a technology standard that is "easy to achieve, ensures minimal air and climate pollution, and ensures economic benefits for families".
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The decision to relax the emission regulations for cars by the Biden administration is seen as a trade-off between environmental goals and business benefits. According to the administration's calculations, with the new emission standard, by 2029, car manufacturers could save up to $100 billion in costs, thereby reducing the price of cars by an average of $1,000. At the same time, the new regulation will also help save 200 billion gallons of gasoline and reduce 2 billion tons of carbon in the next 10 years.
However, this decision also faced a lot of criticism from environmental activists, scientists and some states and cities of the US. They argued that the new regulation was too loose and not strong enough to cope with the climate emergency. They also called on the Biden administration to maintain or strengthen the emission standards of the Obama era, and support more for the development of charging infrastructure and preferential policies for electric cars.
Meanwhile, car manufacturers and the Auto Innovation Alliance (AAI), a lobbying group for cars, supported the decision of the Biden administration, saying that it would create a stable and feasible business environment, and encourage the technological transition. Mr. John Bozzella, Chairman and CEO of AAI, commented that the next three, four years are very important for the development of the electric car market. "Let the market and the supply chain have a chance to catch up, maintain customer choice, let the industrial credit and the Inflation Reduction Act perform their tasks and impact the technological transition" - Mr. John Bozzella said¹.
The new regulation on car emissions in the US is one of the important measures that the Biden administration is implementing to fulfill its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the country. Previously, right after taking office, President Biden decided to return to the Paris Agreement on climate change, a global agreement that his predecessor, President Donald Trump, withdrew from in 2019. President Biden also announced a goal of reducing US emissions by 50-52% compared to 2005 by 2030, and reaching zero emissions by 2050.