Kevin Doyle from Mad Hatter Muffler shop works on replacing a catalytic converter, an exhaust emission control device, on a truck on Dec. 7, 2009 in Davie, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The U.S. House voted, 215-191, on Friday to roll back an Environmental Protection Agency rule strengthening standards for air pollution from car and truck tailpipes.
Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican present in voting to approve a resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to undo certain executive branch rules, to disapprove of the rule that was announced in March.
The rule would set up a multiyear schedule to lower the limit on greenhouse gas emissions by passenger vehicles by nearly 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.
Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick was the lone GOP member to vote against the resolution.
President Joe Biden has pledged to veto the resolution if it reaches his desk.
“The rule sets performance-based standards that manufacturers can meet using a wide range of technologies and avoids over seven billion metric tons of carbon emissions while significantly reducing other pollutants,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement of administration policy. “These standards will provide important health benefits to millions across the country.”
‘Force-fed EVs’
Republicans on the House floor Friday argued the rule was a mandate for U.S. consumers to buy electric vehicles, often called EVs, which they said were still riddled with reliability issues, especially for rural drivers and drivers in colder climates.
“Americans are being force-fed EVs and they’re being force-fed a lie saying that driving EVs is going to save the planet,” House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican, said.
Democrats, who largely favor the rule, described the regulation as a common-sense measure to reduce pollutants that cause climate change and health issues such as asthma.
The rule does not mandate electric vehicles, House Energy and Commerce ranking Democrat Frank Pallone of New Jersey said.
“We’re not mandating EVs, we’re not forcing anybody to use EVs. I’m going to say that over and over again,” Pallone said. “What we are doing is trying to reduce air pollution and this resolution is a step backwards in addressing dangerous air pollution.”
The resolution’s sponsor, Michigan’s Rep. John James, was among the Republicans making an economic argument about the EPA rule, saying it would drive costs of vehicles higher than many Americans can afford.
“I think about every hardworking American whom Washington has forgotten when we talk about making vehicles that are affordable and making a nation that is competitive,” he said.
Saving money
Colorado Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette countered that argument, saying the standards would “save the average American driver an estimated $6,000 over the life of a vehicle.”
“My colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to think this is bad for consumers when in fact it’s good,” she said.
The transportation sector is the single largest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA’s rule. The sector accounts for 29% of emissions, with the light-duty vehicles covered by the rule comprising 58% of those emissions.