West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, along with Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and a coalition of 25 states, are calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule on car tailpipes, find it “unlawful,” and “vacate the agency’s final action.”
The draconian rule aims to remake the automotive market, pushing certain electric vehicle sales from 8.4% of total vehicle sales today to 67% by 2032.
“This rule is legally flawed and unrealistic, to say the least,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “With the high prices of electric vehicles, this would have devastating effects in the daily lives of consumers—many of whom are already suffering from the burdens of historically high inflation.”
“This is an attack on rural America and rural Americans who are working really hard to make ends meet—they are going to get bludgeoned by this rule.”
The Attorney General argues that Congress did not give the EPA the power to attempt a top-to-bottom restructuring of the automobile industry.
The rule—Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles—drastically accelerates the nation’s transition to zero-emission vehicles, mandating the Biden administration’s aggressive climate agenda.
In July last year, the Attorney General co-led with Kentucky a coalition of 25 states in urging the EPA to adopt “feasible standards that maintain our nation’s air quality without risking consumer safety, economic stability and national security,” describing the proposal as “unlawful, unwise and unsustainable.”
“We will always look after the financial wellbeing of consumers, many of whom are dealing with this challenging economy,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “We have settled this issue in the U.S. Supreme Court 2022 decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which specifically ruled the EPA must regulate within the express boundaries of the statute that Congress passed—the agency can’t regulate similar matters without explicit Congressional authorization.”
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming joined the West Virginia- and Kentucky-led petition.
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