Biden brings on the clean cars

Presented by Enbridge: Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Mar 20, 2024 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Presented by EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the Biden administration's most aggressive climate rule for cars Wednesday. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images The Biden administration’s new climate rule for cars and trucks could make a serious dent in the nation’s planet-warming pollution — if it survives. Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s final clean car rule released today, electric vehicles could dominate new auto sales by 2032, slashing vehicles’ climate pollution in half. The rule — one of four significant transportation policies expected in the coming weeks — is the strictest federal climate regulation ever issued for passenger cars and trucks. And Republican opponents are already plotting its demise ahead of the presidential election. “This rule is delusional,” Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said in a statement. The duo said it would work to pass legislation nullifying the measure. While most environmental groups have embraced the rule, some expressed frustration with the compromises the administration made in the final policy. The rule offers automakers a more gradual on-ramp for curbing pollution than EPA had first proposed last year. It also provides more flexibility for manufacturers to comply with the new pollution limits, allowing more plug-in hybrid models and more efficient internal combustion engines to share the showroom with fully electric vehicles. “This rule could’ve been the biggest single step of any nation on climate, but the EPA caved to pressure from Big Auto, Big Oil and car dealers and riddled the plan with loopholes big enough to drive a Ford F150 through,” said Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity. In a more glowing vein, former EPA official Margo Oge called the rule the “single most important climate regulation in the history of the country” during a call organized by the Environmental Defense Fund. The rule’s iteration is a test of President Joe Biden’s ability to enact his climate agenda while balancing demands from voters, including young climate activists pushing for aggressive action and unionized auto workers in states like Michigan anxious about their jobs surviving the transition to EVs. The peace offering to the auto industry might also dissuade companies from suing, helping to insulate the rule from legal attacks — a venue Republican opponents are already eyeing to overturn the measure. The oil and gas industry has also threatened to sue, with the American Petroleum Institute asserting that the rule will “make new gas-powered vehicles unavailable.” Despite the revisions, the rule aims to cut roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions from passenger vehicles as in EPA’s initial proposal. Altogether, the agency says, the measure would curb 7.1 billion tons of planet-warming pollution by 2055, compared with 7.3 billion tons in the original plan.   It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net. And folks, let's keep it classy.   A message from Enbridge: Can we grow our economy and reduce emissions? It’s proven we can. The key? Natural gas. Last year, US GHG emissions dropped 2% year-over-year driven by switching from coal to natural gas in power generation. Significantly, the emissions drop occurred at the same time US GDP increased by 2.6%. Read more about the role of natural gas to reduce global emissions.   Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Eric Bazail-Eimil breaks down the energy implications of Venezuela's threat to annex territory in neighboring Guyana.   A message from Enbridge:   Power Centers A rendering of blue hydrogen tanks. | iStock Biden admin defends 'clean' hydrogen The Biden administration isn’t taking no for an answer on hydrogen energy, write Brian Dabbs and Shelby Webb. Following bleak forecasts for the low-carbon fuel from Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference, Energy Department official David Crane said that hydrogen will be an “absolutely key pillar” in U.S. clean energy efforts for decades to come. GOP has big plans for little agency Republican lawmakers are working to imbue the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with more power to roll back Biden's climate agenda — even before the election, writes Nico Portuondo. The rationale is that FERC, as a quasi-independent agency, is insulated from the meddling of Biden administration officials. While FERC is small and relatively obscure, the agency oversees the nation's natural gas infrastructure and power markets. Europe lags in tree-planting push A senior European Commission official said the continent is nowhere near making good on its promise to plant 3 billion trees by decade's end, writes Louise Guillot. Four years after the EU set its target, only 14.9 million trees have been planted. Belgium is in the lead with more than 5 million, followed by the Czech Republic with roughly 3 million and France with just over 2 million trees planted. In Other News Climate fallout: U.S. farms are increasingly reliant on contract workers who are acutely exposed to climate extremes. Being in the know: As threats to air quality rise, communities are deploying low-cost air monitoring networks, allowing people to protect themselves when conditions are unsafe.   On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more.     Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Cars travel along Interstate 80 on Jan. 16 in Berkeley, California. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images EPA’s vehicle rule will grow auto industry employment overall, even though jobs will be lost building gasoline-burning vehicles, according to the agency’s analysis. Republican lawmakers succeeded in adding a policy rider to upcoming spending legislation that would prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves. A GOP-backed ballot initiative to repeal Washington state’s carbon market likely contributed to prices dropping sharply in the latest auction, experts say. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   JOIN US ON 3/21 FOR A TALK ON FINANCIAL LITERACY: Americans from all communities should be able to save, build wealth, and escape generational poverty, but doing so requires financial literacy. How can government and industry ensure access to digital financial tools to help all Americans achieve this? Join POLITICO on March 21 as we explore how Congress, regulators, financial institutions and nonprofits are working to improve financial literacy education for all. REGISTER HERE.       A message from Enbridge: The energy industry continues to reduce emissions from natural gas. At Enbridge, we know the value of using all the tools in the toolbox to meet this objective. Here are a few examples. We were the first utility in North America to blend hydrogen into natural gas, lowering its carbon content. We’re investing up to $1 billion in facilities that will turn food waste into carbon negative renewable natural gas. And, we’re piloting technologies and equipment to avoid venting methane throughout our system. Enbridge is also investing in carbon capture and storage sites across North America with phased in-service dates expected in late 2026. We believe the onus is on industry to reduce emissions. And with the innovation and work underway, natural gas will remain a key part of our clean energy future. Read more.     Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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