| Washington, DC - ConservAmerica filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court last week in the case of Ohio v Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the Court to review EPA’s decision to allow California to implement a de facto electric vehicle mandate. “However you feel about electric vehicles, the push to decarbonize the transportation sector should not come through mandates that discourage the development of other technologies,” said ConservAmerica Vice President of Policy Todd Johnston. “If our goal is to reduce total emissions from the transportation sector, then one cannot simply focus on one part of the equation, such as miles per gallon or tailpipe emissions.” ConservAmerica previously released a report that looked at a cross-section of studies, including ones from MIT and the International Energy Agency, on the environmental impacts of different low-carbon vehicle technologies over their entire lifecycle ⎯ a perspective often overlooked by policymakers. The report concluded that when the full lifecycle of a vehicle and its energy source is considered — including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during fuel production, manufacturing, operation, and disposal stages — advanced internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles are capable of achieving comparable reductions in GHG emissions as similarly equipped, full battery electric vehicles. “California is out of step with the rest of the country and the needs of most Americans,” Johnston continued. “To ensure the most efficient technologies reach the market, and to be good stewards of the environment, we need to be focused on encouraging competition and innovation, not policies that undermine free markets.” To provide for uniform, national vehicle emissions standards, when Congress passed the Clean Air Act, it restricted states from adopting their own emission requirements; however, a provision written into the law allows California to apply for a waiver of federal preemption to address localized pollution concerns. Once granted, other states may adopt similar standards. |
