Biden’s EPA Chief Claims New Emissions Crackdown Gives Consumers ‘Options’ To ‘Protect’ The Planet

The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claimed Wednesday that the new emissions standards would provide consumers “options” and “protect” the plant.

The new standards seek to reduce emissions of so-called “greenhouse gasses” and other pollutants that cause smog and soot, while also seeking to promote more sales of electric vehicles, according to a White House fact sheet.

“So when we look at this proposal and the opportunities to reach the very ambitious goals that we’ve set, we’re not prescribing any mandates and we’re not driving any particular technology out of business, so to speak,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said during remarks given as the Biden administration unveiled new rules to crack down on emissions from motor vehicles.

“I think we’re giving the markets and the automobile industry and the private sector the options to choose on how we best move forward to reach these very, very ambitious climate goals that we must reach if we are to protect this planet,” Regan continued.

President Joe Biden set a goal to have half of all light trucks and passenger vehicles be electrically-powered by 2030, while also calling for all heavy and medium trucks to be “zero-emission” by 2040, according to the White House fact sheet. The Biden administration also set a goal for all government-purchased vehicles to be electric by 2035.

Biden signed the Democrat-backed Inflation Reduction Act into law in August, which included a tax credit for electric battery production.

Despite Biden’s push for more electric vehicles, the EPA made a determination Jan. 31 that would block the mining of 1.4 billion tons of copper, gold, molybdenum, silver and rhenium in Alaska in order to protect salmon.

The new standards come after Biden vetoed a bi-partisan congressional disapproval of the controversial “Waters of the United States” rule, which expanded the definition of “navigable waters” to expand the jurisdiction of the EPA. A federal judge blocked implementation of the rule on March 20.

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