WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress may not like the Biden administration’s recent proposal to squeeze greenhouse gas emissions standards in the name of advancing electric vehicle adoption, but it does provide them with leverage on one of their top priorities: an overhaul of the federal permitting process.
The proposed standards released last week are by far the strictest emission rules developed by the EPA. The agency estimated that through 2055 the standards would avert nearly 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions and would bump EV sales to two-thirds of all new car sales by 2032.
“The only way to make this transition work for rural America is to make sure you get those assets out there,” said a Republican staffer familiar with the party’s energy strategy. “We don’t feel that it’s achievable in the current regulatory structure. But these regulations are all underscoring the need to do this build-out.”
