“The Biden Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency’s capitulation to the extreme terms of the Green New Deal will have massive negative impacts on the country’s economy, and will impose extreme burdens on specific states that will bear the brunt of the ill-advised daydreams of Green New Deal advocates,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “Increasing the stringency of emissions standards on passenger cars and light trucks will prove costly for ordinary citizens who need to drive their cars on our highways and streets to get to work, to provide for their families. To pretend that electric vehicles produce zero emissions, especially while automotive producers continue to implement measures to reduce emissions, is ridiculous. My Office has led the way in pushing back on this Green New Deal authoritarianism, and we will continue to fight for the people of Missouri.”   At issue is the EPA’s Revised 2023 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards, referred to as the “final rule.” On model year 2023 through 2026 cars and light trucks, the final rule increases the stringency of the emissions standards by large percentages. The Biden EPA is ostensibly increasing these emissions standards in an attempt to phase out gas-fueled vehicles in exchange for electric vehicles.   The stringency increases are as follows:

• Between model year (MY) 2022 and MY2023, the Rule increases what was a roughly 1.5 percent rate of stringency increase (in the SAFE standard) to a nearly 10 percent stringency increase.
• For MY2024, the Rule imposes a 5 percent stringency increase over the previous standard.
• In MY2025, the stringency of the standards increases by 6.6 percent.
• In MY2026, the Rule imposes a 10 percent stringency increase, plus an additional 10 grams/mile increased stringency.