Here’s Why California Senators Urge Biden to Phase Out Gas Powered Cars

Getting California’s Emissions Standards Leadership Restored

Senators Feinstein and Padilla are also asking President Biden to restore California’s emission standards leadership. The emissions standards leadership which was long held by the state of California, was seriously eroded during the 4 years the administration of former President Donald Trump was in charge of making policy governing automobile emissions and other things related to automobile production and sales. As a result, the movement towards stricter automobile emissions standards has slowed significantly. The two California Democratic senators want to see California retake the lead when it comes to emission standards nationally.

A Shift To Electric Vehicles

There is a shift to electric vehicles taking place and the hope of California’s two U.S. senators is with the help of President Biden they can expedite it. The Reuters news service recently released a report saying California’s two U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla are putting pressure on President Joe Biden to take action towards setting a date automobile manufacturers and dealerships in the United States will have to stop marketing gasoline-powered vehicles nationwide. California Governor Gavin Newsom has already signed an executive order that bans gas-powered vehicles sales in California beginning in 2035.

No Timeline Commitment From President Biden

Part of the reason California’s U.S. senators Feinstein and Padilla decided recently to write a letter to newly elected President Biden asking him to follow California’s lead and help to expedite the country’s transition to electric vehicles, is because the president so far has not said whether or not he will commit to setting any timeline for the ending of sales of gas-powered vehicles in the United States. However, during the Democratic primarily, his campaign site said that developing ‘rigorous new fuel-economy standards’ is one of Joe Biden’s goals. It includes ensuring 100% of new light- and medium-duty vehicles sold are electrified.

Lacking A Timeline

By not giving a timeline for attaining that goal put Joe Biden in the minority among the candidates in the Democratic primary. However, President Biden has taken a number of steps to increase how many electric-powered automobiles are on the road. Not long after he took office, president-elect Biden signed an important executive order which
mandated the fleet of roughly 645,000 federal vehicles are to be replaced by vehicles powered by electricity. It signals that he understands that if the United States wants to fight climate change, the country must follow the lead of California and eliminate harmful pollution generated by gas-powered vehicles from the transportation sector.

Rewriting Slashed Vehicle Emissions Rules

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Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Alex Padilla are trying to impress upon President Joe Biden the importance of restoring the authority of California to set higher clean automobile emission standards which help to improve emission standards all across the United States. California’s two U.S. senators see the White House grappling with ways to rewrite the vehicle emissions rules that were slashed under the administration of
former president Donald Trump. The California senators have told President Biden that if he sets a firm date for when the phase-out of gas-powered passenger vehicles must begin, it will make the process easier and show he’s serious about instituting a set of new, stricter, vehicle emissions rules.

Reversing And Rewriting Slashed Vehicle Emissions Rules

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Under the administration of President Donald Trump the vehicle emissions standards were relaxed and even slashed, in some instances. California’s U.S. senators are committed to seeing vehicle emission standards strengthened and the way opened for a mandate for automakers to focus on vehicles powered by electricity and not fossil fuel. That is why they penned the letter to President Biden urging him to commit to setting a date after which gas-powered car can no longer be sold. They see a date-certain for the end sales of gas-powered vehicles as an essential in helping reverse the slashed vehicle emission
rules.

Why California Was Given A Vehicle Emissions Waiver

In 1961, the first regulations mandating the use of vehicle emissions technology was issued by the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board in California. The first vehicle emissions standards in the United States were developed in California in 1966. The EPA
adopted vehicle emission standards identical to those developed in California for use in all 1968 model year cars. Since that time, California has been a leader in the U.S. when it comes to vehicle emission standards. When the Clean Air Act passed in 1963, it gave the EPA the power to regulate motor vehicle emissions. But California had already enacted more stringent vehicle emission rules so they were given a waiver allowing them
to continue to enact and enforce their own vehicle emission standards.

President Trumps EPA Revoked California’s Stricter Emission Standards Waiver

In April 2018, the administration of President Donald Trump froze the established fuel efficiency standards to which cars and light-duty trucks were required to adhere. It followed the EPA saying the tailpipe emissions standards the Obama administration had negotiated for automobiles built between the years 2022 and 2025 were “too high.”. The EPA then revoked California’s ability to set emissions standards that are even stricter
than the ones the federal government put in place. This has led to the erosion of the emission standards in the U.S. California’s U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla are doing their best to get President Biden to take action to change this.

Compelling And Extraordinary Conditions

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Prior to President Trump and the EPA lowering the acceptable threshold for automobile emissions and revoking California’s waiver to set their own vehicle emissions standard to address compelling and extraordinary conditions, the state had enacted the strictest emission rules in the nation since 1961. Senators Feinstein and Padilla are working to restore California’s automobile emissions waiver and to improve air quality in the U.S. by ending the sales of air-polluting gasoline powered automobiles. Urging President Biden to name a date when gas-powered vehicles can no longer be sold in the U.S. is an important step.

A Mission To Revise Fuel-Economy Standards

California made an agreement in 2020 with BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo and other automakers to have them increase their vehicles’ average fuel economy to 51 miles per gallon by 2026. Senators Feinstein and Padilla requested those agreed to stricter emissions standards California reached with the automakers become the federal standard.
On day one as president, Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the government to revise fuel-economy standards. Senator Feinstein and Senator Padilla are urging him to do more because climate change is a compelling and extraordinary condition needing immediate attention.

Promoting Zero-Emission Vehicles

The two California U.S. senators urged President Biden to tell the American public the date after which only zero-emission vehicles can be sold in the U.S. They also want him to restore the authority of California to set tough automobile emission standards. On the campaign trail, presidential-candidate Biden vowed to boost the number of electric vehicles as well as charging stations dramatically. President-elect Biden promised more
clean electric vehicles made in America by American workers. Senators Feinstein and Padilla want him to begin promoting those zero-emission electric vehicles by being a strong federal partner.