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BREAKING NEWS from The Energy Marketers of America
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July 2, 2024
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EMA Petitions Supreme Court over California Electric Vehicle Mandate
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Tuesday, July
2, 2024 -
Today, EMA, along
with several trade
associations, filed
a petition with the
Supreme Court of the
United States
(SCOTUS) challenging
EPA’s decision to
grant a waiver to
the state of
California for its
2021-2025 electric
vehicle mandate, a
policy governing the
vehicle choice of
nearly 40 percent of
Americans directly
and many more
indirectly.
Whether California
can blaze its own
trail on combatting
climate change also
implicates the
“major questions
doctrine,” which
holds that courts
should not defer to
agencies on
questions of “vast
economic or
political
significance”
without explicit
Congressional
authority to do so.
The petition asks
the Court to decide
whether the Clean
Air Act authorized
California to
regulate vehicle
emissions to target
a phenomenon like
climate change which
has a global cause
and effect.
“The wheels are
already coming off
the federal
government’s
electrification
agenda due to
skyrocketing utility
bills, charging and
repair costs, and
low consumer
interest, and yet,
we continue to see
the state of
California dictating
electric vehicle
mandates across the
country. Therefore,
it’s time for the
Court to step in to
preserve consumer
choice and ensure
that all forms of
energy are treated
equally, which will
guarantee that small
business energy
marketers can
continue to sell
American-made,
American-grown fuels
in the future,” said
EMA President Rob
Underwood.
Specifically, the
petition urges
SCOTUS to review and
overturn an April
ruling from the DC
Circuit, which
determined energy
petitioners lacked
standing, based on
redressability, to
challenge EPA’s
issuance of a
federal waiver
allowing California
to impose its
Advanced Clean Cars
I (ACCI) EV mandate.
In dismissing the
petitions, the DC
Circuit failed to
consider the merits
of the statutory
questions raised in
the petitioners’
case. Secondly, the
petition urges
SCOTUS to decide the
merits of the case
to clarify that the
“California waiver”
in the Clean Air Act
does not empower any
one state to
regulate vehicle
greenhouse gas
emissions, impose
electric vehicle
mandates or limit
consumer access to
internal combustion
engine technology.
Other
Legal Challenges
Playing Out
EMA, along with
several business
groups and States,
have asked the
courts to review
EPA’s prior tailpipe
emissions standards
for model year 2025
and 2026 vehicles
and 2027-2032 as
well as EPA’s
heavy-duty trucking
rule. Additionally,
EMA joined an amicus
curiae brief in a
challenge to the
National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration’s
fuel-economy
standards. Simply
put, the Biden
Administration’s
final rules are an
electrification
mandate in disguise.
Even though
automakers are
committed to
boosting EVs, many
of them, as well as
members on Capitol
Hill, are raising
questions about the
Biden
Administration’s new
approach, from
securing critical
materials needed for
EV batteries, to the
availability of EV
charging stations
and the ability of
electric grids to
meet power needs.
China’s stranglehold
on the critical
minerals industry
and mining in Africa
is a major concern.
Additionally, given
that heavy duty EVs
weigh more than the
internal combustion
engine (ICE), there
is a concern that
more trips will be
needed to carry
products which will
add more stress to
our roads and
bridges and likely
result in more
traffic deaths. |
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EMA Today is published by The Energy Marketers of America (EMA)
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