A top Senate Republican is promising to fight EPA’s decision to allow California to ban gasoline-powered car sales by 2035.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) slammed the “costly, radical” decision by the Biden administration to grant California a waiver under the Clean Air Act, saying it would create a patchwork of auto regulations, since 11 other states and Washington are slated to follow California’s rule to allow only electric vehicle sales.
Capito is currently the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees EPA, but will become its chair when the new Congress starts Jan. 3.
“EPA’s decision to approve California’s extreme EV mandate imposes unrealistic, stringent requirements to sell 100 percent electric vehicles by 2035,” she said in a statement. “This rule not only fails to meet the Clean Air Act’s requirements for a waiver, but also forces the hand of American consumers and makes our country more reliant on China for critical minerals.
