Moody, group of attorneys general send letter challenging EPA’s plan on electric vehicles

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Attorney General Ashley Moody, along with 24 attorneys general across the U.S., sent a letter challenging President Joe Biden administration’s regulations on tailpipe emissions.

In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a plan they said would “accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean vehicles future and tackle the climate crisis,” according to a press release.

Moody and the coalition sent a letter opposing the plan, arguing the move would “tax the families and businesses who depend on them and threaten our national security.”

The attorneys general said Biden’s plan “forcibly phases out gas-powered vehicles and restructures the automobile industry around electric vehicles at a breakneck pace.”

“The proposed rule from Biden’s EPA requiring a dangerous, expedited timeline to shift to electric vehicles will harm consumers and wreak havoc on our energy infrastructure,” Moody said.

“This latest radical regulatory push by the Biden administration represents a top-to-bottom attempt to restructure the nation’s automobile industry and forces Americans to rely more heavily on foreign adversaries like China that provide the minerals needed to manufacture electric vehicles,” she said.

The coalition argues that the dangerous shift to electric vehicles is “counterproductive and misguided.”

The proposal aims to boost certain electric vehicle sales from 8.4% of total vehicle sales now to 67% by 2032, the press release said.

The letter called the proposed rule “unlawful, unwise, and unsustainable.”

“Put differently, encouraging quicker market change within the bounds of an agency’s operative statute
is one thing. But mandating fast and extreme transformations before supply chains, national security, or consumer confidence have any hope of keeping up is another thing entirely. We respectfully urge EPA to reconsider its Proposed Rule,” the letter said.

Moody is joined in the letter by the attorneys general of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

To read the letter sent by Moody and the coalition, click here.