WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Thursday that sets a new goal of having half of all new automobiles sold be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles.
The Biden administration says the order will also kick off the development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.
Specifically, the order lays out a schedule for the development of fuel efficiency and multi-pollutant emissions standards through at least the model year 2030 for light-duty vehicles and for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles starting as early as the model year 2027.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) are announced Thursday how they are addressing the Trump administration’s rollbacks of near-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards.
The administration says the EPA and USDOT are advancing smart fuel efficiency and emissions standards that would deliver around $140 billion in net benefits over the life of the program, save about 200 billion gallons of gasoline, and reduce around two billion metric tons of carbon pollution.
“For the average consumer, this means net benefits of up to $900 over the life of the vehicle in fuel savings,” said the White House.
The administration hopes these actions position America to outcompete China in the electric vehicle market and help tackle the climate crisis.
Officials say the U.S. is behind in the race to manufacture these vehicles and the batteries that go in them, with the U.S. market share of electric vehicle sales being only a third of the Chinese electric vehicle market.
Biden believes the U.S. needs to do the following to outcompete China:
- Install the first-ever national network of electric vehicle charging stations
- Deliver point-of-sale consumer incentives to spur U.S. manufacturing and union jobs
- Finance the retooling and expansion of the full domestic manufacturing supply chain
- Innovate the next generation of clean technologies to maintain our competitive edge
“Together, today’s announcements would put us on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new passenger vehicle sales by more than 60% in 2030 compared to vehicles sold last year, and facilitate achieving the president’s goal of 50-52% net economy-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions below 2005 levels in 2030,” said the White House.
