Industry groups on Tuesday urged congressional leaders to march ahead with their plans to nullify the Biden administration’s approval of California’s stringent clean car rules ahead of a possible showdown with the Senate parliamentarian.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the American Petroleum Institute and 100 other trade groups say the “unachievable” California standards — which ban new gasoline- and diesel-fueled car sales by 2035 — should be overturned using the Congressional Review Act.
The law allows lawmakers to kill newly issued rules by simple majority. But the Government Accountability Office said this month the Biden EPA’s approval of California’s emissions limits does not qualify as a rule for CRA purposes. Republicans, in an unprecedented move, are poised to ignore the GAO’s opinion and now industry is cheering them on.
“These rules not only inhibit consumer choice but pose a threat to our national security through reliance on unstable and adversarial supply chains,” wrote the groups, which also included growers, ethanol producers, petroleum marketers, convenience store and truck stop operators, and motor truck associations.
