Senate President Petersen Sues Biden Administration's EPA, California Over Costly, Economically Damaging Electric Vehicle Mandates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                 

Wednesday, May 15, 2024   

Senate President Petersen Sues Biden Administration's EPA, California

Over Costly, Economically Damaging Electric Vehicle Mandates

PHOENIX, ARIZONA— Senate President Warren Petersen is taking legal action to block the massive federal government overreach by the Biden Administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after it overstepped its authority in issuing several radical and costly electric-vehicle mandates that promise to dramatically hurt the wallets of hardworking Arizonans and threaten our state's power supply.

Today, President Petersen, House Speaker Ben Toma, and the Arizona Trucking Association filed two lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to stop recently adopted rules by the EPA as part of Biden's climate change agenda, requiring a hasty transition from gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. The regulations are anticipated to detrimentally transform our nation's entire automotive industry and cost billions of dollars to implement.

The rules require by 2032 nearly 70% of all new vehicles and 25% of all new semitrucks or similar heavy-duty vehicles sold in the United States to be electric, guaranteeing to raise the costs of everything Arizonans purchase, and without adequate charging infrastructure in place or the necessary power grid capacity.

Additionally, the Arizona Legislature joined 16 states in a third lawsuit filed Monday against the State of California to stop another new rule requiring trucking operators to buy expensive electric trucks and retire their diesel-fueled models, which can cost well over $100,000 more per electric truck. The rule applies to any fleets headquartered in Arizona, if they operate within California, which will create dire impacts to the supply chain and dramatically raise costs for Arizona trucking companies that will inevitably be passed onto their customers.

"These rules exceed the EPA's statutory authority, are arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion," said Senate President Warren Petersen. "In the absence of our Attorney General holding the Biden Administration accountable, the Legislature will gladly protect our citizens from this egregious abuse of power."

"The climate change agenda from Democrats imposes expensive and unattainable goals on the automotive and trucking industries, which will undoubtedly lead to soaring consumer prices," said Senator Frank Carroll, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Technology & Missing Children. "We don't have the infrastructure to power these vehicles, and the average working-class citizen or trucking business can't afford to purchase them."

"The EPA's tailpipe emissions rules prioritize politics over science, posing a greater threat to public health by inflating the cost of essential and everyday goods," said Tony Bradley, President & CEO of the Arizona Trucking Association. "Despite the trucking industry's remarkable progress—already reducing 98.5% of emissions—we're dedicated to further advancements through innovation and investment. Yet, the EPA's impractical mandates, targeting a mere 1.5% of remaining emissions, burden us with unrealistic expectations and exorbitant costs. We proudly join the Arizona Legislature in challenging these detrimental regulations."

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov