CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Wednesday said President Joe Biden’s announcement about new automobile emissions standards is nothing but sugar-coating the end game.
The Biden administration announced the rule Wednesday. It relaxes proposed tailpipe limits for three years—but will eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“The only thing Biden has accomplished with today’s announcement is to delay the onset of a depression in West Virginia — it certainly won’t help avoid one if these radical EV policies remain in place,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “While America has the resources to power our traditional, fuel-powered vehicles, we simply aren’t ready to jump into full-scale electric vehicles, a big part of this administration’s radical green new deal.”
“This is an attack on rural America and rural Americans who are working really hard to make ends meet who are going to get bludgeoned by this rule. And this comes in a time when the Biden administration is plotting to destroy whatever is left of our energy production through regulations that would effectively shut down coal- and gas-fired power plants—the backbone of the nation’s power generation.”
Recent problems in the EV market have only confirmed that a renewed push toward electrification is the wrong choice.
Hertz was recently forced to sell tens of thousands of EVs from its fleet after the vehicles proved difficult to maintain and unpopular with consumers. Automakers are discontinuing certain EV models after continuing issues. And electric-vehicle manufacturers are struggling as consumer demand for the vehicles has slowed.