'Mandate Madness': Senators Debate New Biden EPA Regulation On Tailpipe Emissions
During remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Republicans and Democrats debated an EPA regulation on tailpipe emissions.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 President, Madam President, I am here today to defend the Environmental Protection Agency's
00:06 vehicle emissions standards, standards that will cut air pollution to tackle the climate
00:13 crisis, protect public health, and save drivers money at the pump.
00:20 These standards for passenger vehicles, cars, SUVs, and light trucks will help us accelerate
00:28 towards our climate targets and put the brakes on our dependence on fossil fuels.
00:34 Last year, we imported 8.5 million barrels of oil every single day of petroleum products,
00:45 including gasoline, while simultaneously exporting more than 10 million barrels.
00:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:00 Importing oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman.
01:08 And what does this proposal do that the Republicans want to propound here?
01:14 It's to say, no, we don't want to move to an electric vehicle future.
01:19 No, we don't want to in any way send a signal that we are a technological giant as the United
01:27 States and we're going to back out that imported oil so that we're not contributing those petrodollars
01:37 to those nations which are ultimately intent on undermining stability.
01:44 So this dependence on fossil fuels traded on a global market and imported into our country
01:51 puts drivers at the whim of OPEC.
01:57 It puts them at the whim of those who are driven by profiteering.
02:03 And it allows big oil CEOs to turn drivers upside down at the pump and shake money out
02:11 of their pockets.
02:15 Why would we continue this?
02:17 We're technological giants.
02:20 We have an all-electric vehicle future, hybrid future for our nation and for the world.
02:27 Are we going to lead on that or retreat?
02:29 Because that's what is being proposed here.
02:33 Gas guzzling cars aren't just bad for drivers, they are bad for all of us.
02:40 According to the EPA, the transportation sector accounts for 29% of US greenhouse gas emissions
02:49 contributing to global warming, actually the largest single source of climate warming emissions
02:57 in the United States.
02:59 And the EPA has a legal statutory responsibility to set strong clean car standards to help
03:06 us put this crisis in the rearview mirror.
03:09 The final clean car rules are estimated to avoid more than 7 billion metric tons of carbon
03:16 pollution, equivalent to four times the emissions from the entire transportation sector.
03:22 This is the single most significant rule we have ever seen in our fight to tackle the
03:27 climate crisis, more than any other rule in the history of the United States.
03:32 That's a big deal.
03:34 That's something to be proud of.
03:37 And that's something that is worth protecting from political attacks.
03:42 In addition to building a livable future, this rule will also save lives right now,
03:48 providing $13 billion in annual health benefits as a result of reduced air pollution.
03:55 And the clean cars rule isn't banning gas cars, but it is expected to help supercharge
04:00 our already booming sales of hybrid and all-electric vehicles.
04:05 And these final rules are technically feasible, economically achievable, technologically neutral,
04:11 increasing vehicle choice for Americans.
04:14 This means that families and individuals will still be able to choose from a wide range
04:19 of vehicle options, including more than 100 different plug-in hybrid and battery electric
04:26 vehicles here in the United States.
04:29 Automakers are innovating and driving us closer towards a clean energy future.
04:34 That's why big oil hates these vehicle emission standards.
04:38 The oil industry is scared to death that $46 billion in reduced annual fuel costs will
04:44 stay stranded in drivers' pockets instead of in the padded company profits of big oil
04:51 companies.
04:52 If you follow the money, it becomes pretty clear why big oil would want to attack these
04:57 standards.
04:58 All the Republicans have to do is wait outside and drive the getaway car.
05:04 And that is why I'm urging my colleagues to vote no on Senator Crapo's legislation, S-4072,
05:12 which would block the EPA from carrying out the final clean cars rule.
05:18 This bill is irresponsible because it undoes and it undermines future regulations that
05:23 would protect public health.
05:26 The clean cars rule will reduce particulate matter by 95 percent compared to current standards,
05:31 prevent 2,500 premature deaths, reduce heat attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.
05:39 With this bill coming up for a vote, it instead would prevent working families from saving
05:45 money on gas and maintenance repairs.
05:49 Over the lifetime of the standards, drivers will save $62 billion in fuel and repair costs
05:54 or $6,000 over the life of a car by model year 2032.
06:02 Rolling back these clean car standards is not an option.
06:05 We have to protect this rule.
06:06 We have to protect drivers' budgets.
06:08 We have to protect public health.
06:09 We have to protect our climate.
06:11 That's why a vote on this, of no vote, is so important.
06:14 And I want to thank everyone who is in this fight.
06:19 I see Chairman Copper, who is here, and Senator Whitehouse.
06:24 This is an absolutely critical rule.
06:27 And I will say this.
06:28 Every day, Donald Trump and Big Oil say, "Drill, baby, drill."
06:33 But the young generation is saying, "Plug in, baby, plug in."
06:37 We're moving to the future.
06:38 We're moving to an all-electric future.
06:41 And that's what this vote is all about today.
06:43 I urge a no vote on the floor of the Senate.
06:46 Madam President.
06:49 Senator from California.
06:50 I'm inspired by Senator Markey's remarks and pleased to join him in this debate in opposition
06:58 to the measure.
07:00 And we're speaking today because the American people deserve to know what is at stake during
07:06 today's vote.
07:08 And no, it's not the latest fabricated Republican electric vehicle horror story.
07:15 No one's coming to slap a Biden bumper sticker on your car and take your gas-powered car
07:22 off the road.
07:24 Americans are smarter than that.
07:28 Americans want a reliable car that can get them to work, to school, wherever they need
07:34 to go, powered by fuel that doesn't break the bank.
07:40 Americans also want a future where their kids, our kids and our grandkids, can breathe clean
07:47 air.
07:48 And we all want a planet that's not burning to the ground.
07:54 But unfortunately, too many of our Republican colleagues will tell you that we can't have
07:59 both, that we have to choose.
08:03 It's going to be either the economy or the environment.
08:08 So for everybody who's watching, everybody who's listening, please know that that's a
08:13 false choice.
08:15 Yes, the EPA rule will improve public health and protect our planet.
08:24 It will also help create good jobs and strengthen the auto industry.
08:31 It sets ambitious goals for reducing emissions while giving automakers the flexibility that
08:37 they need, that they've asked for, to actually meet those goals through whatever combination
08:44 of new electric, hydrogen fuel cell or hybrid vehicles that they're best prepared to make
08:52 and offer.
08:53 So to my Republican colleagues, I also have a question.
08:58 How many times have we heard you say, "Well, let's make it in America"?
09:03 Well, here is your chance.
09:07 Would you welcome more good-paying jobs in Idaho or West Virginia?
09:14 We do in California because we'd rather have them here and not overseas.
09:19 I also hear some people argue that, "Well, our domestic supply chain and our charging
09:26 infrastructure isn't quite ready for this electric vehicle transition."
09:32 Well, this rule actually reduces the risks for domestic manufacturers and gives them
09:39 more certainty to make necessary long-term investments in domestic manufacturing and
09:45 charging infrastructure that we all want to see.
09:50 So, colleagues, we have a tremendous economic opportunity before us.
09:57 Madam President, I ask them all to just take a look at our home state of California, where
10:03 we have proven that it's not an either/or between the economy and the environment.
10:11 California has done the nation, not just with bold targets for clean and renewable sources
10:16 of electricity, but for transitioning to a zero-emission transportation sector.
10:25 As a result, clean car sales are now far outpacing even our expectations.
10:31 In 2023, zero-emission vehicles made up a quarter of all light-duty sales in our state,
10:40 the most populous state in the nation.
10:43 If California was its own country, it would be fourth in the world in electric vehicle
10:49 sales.
10:50 So, not only can it happen, it is happening.
10:55 And it's because of that type of economic potential that automakers across the country
11:01 are fully committed to this electric vehicle transition.
11:06 They know that this EPA final rule is ambitious, but it's also achievable.
11:16 And labor unions, including but not limited to the UAW, are all in, because they, too,
11:23 reject the fear-mongering that says tackling the climate crisis is going to come at the
11:29 cost of so many union jobs.
11:33 Environmental and community advocates are all in on this, because it's what the climate
11:37 crisis demands of us.
11:41 But we still hear Republicans saying that Americans are losing their ability to buy
11:49 the vehicle of their choice.
11:52 That's wrong.
11:54 For all the fear-mongering, for all the bad-faith arguments, let's be clear.
11:59 Under the EPA's rule, not a single American will be forced to buy a car that they don't
12:06 want, and not a single manufacturer will be given a quota for a specific type of vehicle
12:13 to make.
12:14 And with all that said, I will acknowledge that Republicans are correct about one thing.
12:23 These are big goals for our country.
12:27 But colleagues, a century ago, it was American innovation and manufacturing that led to the
12:35 automobile revolution.
12:36 And you'd be wrong to think that the American people can't do it again.
12:43 So I urge my colleagues to stand with us, to set ambitious goals for our future, to
12:49 give the American people a choice to grow our economy, and we can do it by voting no.
12:58 Thank you, Madam President.
12:59 I yield the floor.
13:00 Madam President.
13:01 Senator from Delaware.
13:02 I want to associate myself with the gentleman from California and thank him for his comments.
13:08 But I rise today in strong opposition to the measure before us.
13:11 If enacted, this measure would block federal funding for the Environmental Protection Agency's
13:16 new plan to limit tailpipe emissions from light in medium-duty vehicles such as cars
13:21 and pickup trucks.
13:24 Nearly every day, we see signs of a planet in crisis, wildfires ravaging our lands, polluted
13:31 air filling our lungs, extreme heat gripping our communities, and much, much more.
13:39 Climate change and climate change have repeatedly sounded the alarm.
13:44 We are running out of time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change for
13:49 the health of our planet, and there is no planet B. Instead of coming together to tackle
13:56 this challenge head on and create jobs at the same time, some of our colleagues want
14:00 to stop a rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which we know to have substantial warming
14:05 effect on our planet.
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19:50 I want to thank you for your comments.
19:51 I want to thank you for your comments.
19:52 I want to thank you for your comments.
19:54 Senator from Rhode Island.
19:55 Madam President, I'm delighted to join my colleagues here to support the EPA's new tailpipe
20:02 emission standards.
20:03 Rhode Island has long ridden along with California on its emission standards, and we're delighted
20:12 to see EPA follow along with strong anti-pollution emissions standards.
20:20 Among the many benefits of this is that we'll start to head off climate dangers that we
20:25 are facing.
20:26 There are innumerable reports about the economic threats that America faces as a result of
20:32 unconstrained climate change.
20:35 I would ask unanimous consent to have the articles from the recent Economist magazine.
20:42 They open with a lead sort of editorial type article, and then they have the solid full
20:47 article, and I'd like to ask that both be appended at the end of my remarks.
20:54 Without objection, Senator.
20:56 Talking about how climate change, to use the article's words, is shaking the foundations
21:02 of the world's biggest asset class and looking at potentially $25 trillion worth of global
21:08 economic damage as homes become uninsurable because climate change makes them uninsurable.
21:15 On the national security front, I'd ask unanimous consent to add to that an article that I wrote
21:23 with Senator Graham pointing out the danger to the world of the petro states and how badly
21:30 behaved they are and how they are propped up with fossil fuel dollars so they can go
21:34 out and do things like wage war against Israel, invade Ukraine, and saw up correspondence
21:44 that they don't like.
21:47 But the real thing is that this will come home for American consumers.
21:52 The quicker we can get off fossil fuel, the safer Americans will be in their pocketbooks
21:57 as well.
21:58 This is the way gasoline prices have looked like back since 1978.
22:03 They bounce all over the place.
22:05 Why do they go all over the place?
22:07 They go all over the place because the prices are not set by a market.
22:11 The prices are set by an individual cartel, a cartel of international entities, most of
22:18 whom are not friends of the United States, that can simply decide to stop production
22:23 and juice prices.
22:25 And you can see over and over again where prices have juiced.
22:29 The last time was immediately after Putin went into Ukraine.
22:34 On cue, the fossil fuel industry raised prices dramatically.
22:38 American companies that were not directly affected rode along with the price increase.
22:44 They just took the international price and they made the biggest profits I think any
22:49 company has ever seen.
22:52 So consumers get gouged by an international cartel that manipulates our gasoline prices.
23:01 We can get off of that with American-made renewable energy from the sun, from the wind,
23:07 from batteries, from geothermal, from nuclear, you name it.
23:11 We get off of the international cartel fossil fuel roller coaster, which we do not control.
23:18 We will never, ever, ever as a country have energy independence while our prices for a
23:25 product depend on how an international cartel behaves.
23:29 So this is a really, really important step.
23:33 As Senator Stabenow said, representing Michigan, the car companies support this.
23:39 Labor unions support this.
23:42 Consumers support this.
23:44 It's expected to provide $99 billion in net benefits to consumers through 2025.
23:53 And that includes $46 billion in reduced annual fuel costs.
23:57 So if you want to know who this benefits and who's on the other side, it's the people
24:00 who are going to lose $46 billion in polluting dirty fossil fuel because people have gone
24:06 to clean, efficient electric vehicles as a matter of their own choice.
24:11 And last of all, it helps people who breathe.
24:13 It's estimated to save $13 billion per year in public health benefits.
24:18 It's hard to put a dollar number on a public health benefit.
24:21 It's kind of an awkward way to talk about a public health benefit.
24:25 But when a kid can go to school instead of having to stay home because their asthma has
24:31 been fired up by atmospheric ozone, when a mom doesn't have to call into work and say,
24:36 "I can't make it today because I can't get my baby to daycare because asthma has kicked
24:42 in because of pollution-driven atmospheric ozone," the $13 billion, that's just the
24:47 price of the care.
24:49 The price in people's hearts and in people's harms is far, far worse.
24:53 So the benefits of this wildly outseed any cost.
24:56 This is a great rule that EPA has done, and I support it fully.
25:00 Thanks very much.
25:01 I yield the floor.
25:02 Madam President.
25:03 The senator from Iowa?
25:06 Wyoming, I'm sorry.
25:07 Thank you, Madam President.
25:08 Madam President, good to be here with my friend and colleague who just addressed the body
25:14 on this legislation.
25:15 And as I remember, he said, "Who's going to be on the other side of the position that
25:20 he has taken?"
25:21 Well, I'm the face of the person who's on the other side.
25:24 I'm here with students from Wyoming, 4-H kids who understand from an agriculture standpoint
25:29 what kind of vehicles families in Wyoming want, need, the freedom to choose the kind
25:34 of vehicles that they drive, the practicality, what they can afford, what they know will
25:38 work for them.
25:39 They're from Sheridan.
25:40 They're from Gillette, Wyoming.
25:41 And they are here because they support the freedom to choose what kind of vehicles people
25:45 want to drive in America.
25:47 And it's not just Wyoming.
25:49 It's all across the country.
25:50 And I want to thank the senator from Idaho who wrote this legislation because he's the
25:55 driving force behind this very important bill of which I am here to support.
26:00 This legislation that we're talking about today would prohibit any government money
26:05 from going to fund Joe Biden's obscene attacks against American cars and American trucks.
26:12 Because every day, people in Wyoming rely on their cars and their trucks to get to work,
26:18 to get to school, and to do the daily work of our economy.
26:23 Agriculture, ranching, farming.
26:27 Great distances that people travel in Wyoming and they need reliability.
26:32 They need vehicles that they can trust, that they can count on.
26:35 So this bill today is about defending their freedom.
26:39 And it's against those who want to take away that freedom.
26:43 What President Biden and the Democrats are trying to do, Madam President, is trying to
26:48 force Americans to switch to electric vehicles.
26:51 Vehicles that many people don't want, can't afford, aren't practical for them in their
26:55 daily lives.
26:58 The actions by the Democrats and the EPA aren't driven by facts.
27:03 They are driven by that party's blind faith in their climate religion.
27:08 A faith that says we need to prioritize, as the President has told the EPA,
27:13 prioritize climate over energy for our country that is affordable, available, or reliable.
27:20 How's that way out? How do people feel about that?
27:24 Which do you want? You want energy that's affordable, available, reliable?
27:28 Well, then you're going to be for this piece of legislation that we're talking about today.
27:32 But for the climate alarmists who continue to come to this floor and harp about the issues,
27:39 let me point out to them the inconvenient truth.
27:43 And the inconvenient truth is the American people do not want to buy EVs,
27:47 and they actually are voting with their feet.
27:50 They aren't buying electric vehicles.
27:53 They simply aren't interested in that car or the truck that they know is too expensive,
27:57 too unreliable, and for them, too inconvenient.
28:02 That's what it's about.
28:04 The public has absolute legitimate concerns about the lack of charging stations around the country.
28:09 [no audio]
28:24 EV batteries, they lose their charge in the cold of winter.
28:27 Well, we have longer winters in Wyoming.
28:29 We also have longer roads to drive to get from work or school to home.
28:36 And EVs certainly do not inspire confidence.
28:39 They don't inspire confidence for those of us who live and drive in states like Wyoming or the West,
28:44 with our cold winters and our long distances.
28:47 So the President of the United States wants to force the people of Wyoming and across the country
28:51 to buy EVs anyway.
28:55 He doesn't care about this.
28:57 He's from a small state, Delaware.
28:59 I don't think he has any clear understanding of the vastness of the Rocky Mountain West.
29:03 I've heard it in a number of his comments,
29:05 and it's clear that he doesn't understand the people who live in the Rocky Mountain West.
29:11 But Joe Biden does understand that he has had and placed a heavy hand on the EPA
29:18 so that they can tell us what to buy, what to drive,
29:22 and I'm against all of these sorts of obligations and mandates.
29:27 The EPA wants to dictate that seven of 10 vehicles, new cars sold, need to be electric.
29:32 By comparison, EVs make up less than one in 10 cars being sold today.
29:38 And what's happened now, Good Friday, late Friday afternoon, Good Friday, right before Easter,
29:43 new mandates on trucks as well that clearly aren't practical, expensive mandates, unaffordable.
29:52 They talk about the benefits. The benefits are highly exaggerated.
29:57 This self-righteous Biden administration imposes punishing, political, and penalizing fines
30:03 on the carmakers who will comply with their mandates.
30:06 This isn't right.
30:08 This Biden car ban, it is bad for consumers.
30:11 It is bad for the economy, and it is bad for American jobs.
30:16 Look, if this regulation goes into full effect, the impacts are going to be devastating.
30:22 Republicans reject all of these unjustified, unnecessary restrictions.
30:29 Democrats are the party of regulating every room in your home,
30:32 and now they want to move to the garage after banning gas stoves and natural gas.
30:38 They want to control our lives. It's coercive.
30:42 To me, what they're doing is a crusade against consumer choice, convenience, and affordability.
30:47 The focus in Washington should be on lowering prices, producing more American energy,
30:52 focusing on energy that's available, affordable, and reliable on the people of Wyoming and across the West.
30:57 And we are America's energy powerhouse, breadbasket for American energy.
31:01 We do it with the kind of respect for the environment that one would expect and want and demand,
31:07 and we do it that way.
31:09 We understand what Americans want, and the senator from Idaho's legislation is what we need to do
31:17 to put Americans not in the back seat but in the front seat.
31:21 That's why we're here today talking about this, Madam President.
31:24 It's so interesting, when the EPA, with their truck mandate,
31:27 they talked about how much carbon they would avoid putting in the atmosphere over the next 30 years.
31:32 Now, I think their numbers are exaggerated,
31:35 but the amount that they're talking about saving from putting in the atmosphere in 30 years
31:41 is what China and India combined put added into the atmosphere every single year.
31:49 So the Democrats say, "Okay, China and India, okay, drill 30 holes in the bottom of the boat,
31:54 and the U.S. in that time, we're going to patch one of them. Aren't we great?"
31:57 Well, we're not, Madam President, and it is wrong to take away the choice of the American people
32:02 and what they want, what they can afford, and what's practical in their lives.
32:05 So thank you, Madam President. I think it's just time to put a stop to Democrats' mandate madness.
32:11 Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.
32:14 Madam President.
32:15 Senator from West Virginia.
32:17 Madam President, I rise today because I truly want to depoliticize this.
32:20 I want to give you the facts because I was the one who negotiated the bill with the President.
32:24 I negotiated the bill with the Speaker of the House.
32:26 I negotiated this bill with the majority leader.
32:29 So let me give you the facts and depoliticize it.
32:31 Let me take the Republican-Democrat equation out of this.
32:34 This rule should have never happened.
32:36 It wasn't our intent, and it wasn't what we agreed upon.
32:39 We shouldn't even be voting down or up on this rule today because it should have never been here.
32:44 And I'll tell you the reason why.
32:46 The IRA was designed truly, and we all agreed on, energy security and manufacturing in America.
32:54 That was it. Energy security and manufacturing.
32:57 We're producing more energy today than ever in the history of the world.
33:01 We produce more energy today than anybody else in the world.
33:04 And they're having a hard time grabbing that, but that was the way we designed the bill, to be an all-in.
33:10 We're going to do fossil cleaner and better than anywhere in the world and more of it,
33:15 and we're going to do investments in the clean technology for the future, and we've done that.
33:19 When we put this bill out, the administration knew exactly the timetables.
33:23 I'm giving you the timetables here, and I can show you how they've accelerated everything
33:28 because it did not meet their timetable.
33:31 The deadlines, 2024, 2023, they're going with temporary rules for 2026 and 2027.
33:38 The reason they're going to temporary rules, you can't sue on temporary rules.
33:41 You can sue on permanent rules if you've been damaged.
33:44 Absolutely negating everything that we had in agreement.
33:47 And so I've said this, we tried to basically persuade or bribe the American public to buy an EV.
33:54 They're a great vehicle. I don't contest that.
33:57 Only 1.1% of West Virginians want them.
34:00 We are a market-driven society. We are capitalists.
34:04 You can't force with government regulations to do things that we've always been trained not to do.
34:09 Buy what you want. Buy how you want.
34:12 And that's what they're trying to do.
34:14 And what happened on top of that, then they changed the whole--how we basically--
34:23 the regulations we all agreed on, the president, the speaker, and the majority leader.
34:29 We said the first year in 2023, at least 40%, 40% of extracted minerals that we need for critical minerals
34:37 to build these batteries had to come from the United States or our allies, our trading partners,
34:43 our whole goal was basically to eliminate being dependent upon China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
34:52 This is the first time--and the lady spoke from Michigan.
34:55 I love Michigan. I love the vehicles that Michigan has produced.
34:59 And I can't tell you that every Michiganer has got to be enthralled with what they're trying to do
35:05 because they're saying by 2032 that basically 70% of the vehicles have to be electric.
35:14 Can't do it. Two things why you can't do it, Madam President.
35:18 First of all, we don't have the infrastructure to do it.
35:21 Next of all, we don't have the minerals to make the batteries.
35:24 So the only way they could get around that is the change.
35:28 You tell me in the bill where it says you can go from 40% to 20% the first year.
35:32 You tell me in the bill where it says by 2031 you can go from 80% as you should be doing here in America to 40%.
35:39 You're not going to be beholden to China.
35:41 We have never been beholden to another country or foreign supply chain,
35:44 especially an unreliable foreign supply chain for our mode of transportation.
35:50 I remember in 1974 we were dependent on oil.
35:53 We weren't producing oil we should be producing.
35:55 We were depending on Saudi Arabia and OPEC basically put an embargo on us.
35:59 I waited in line to buy gasoline to go to work.
36:02 I remember that day very well. It was a horrible time.
36:05 I sure as heck don't want to have to wait on the battery to come from China to drive my vehicle to work.
36:09 That's all we're talking about. So this rule should never be here.
36:12 And when you go through the things, the compromise that we made,
36:17 only EVs that were made in North America and with the batteries that are made and the minerals sourced here,
36:22 would they get the full $7,500 credit?
36:25 That was the whole purpose of bringing manufacturing.
36:28 There was not a quibble. There wasn't saying, "Oh, I'm not sure we can do that."
36:32 Everybody agreed. Again, the President of the United States,
36:35 the Speaker of the House, and the Majority Leader here in the Senate.
36:40 Totally agreeable. It's wonderful.
36:42 Now you tell me if it was so wonderful, why'd they have to cut everything in half
36:45 and basically usurp the intentions of the bill that we passed?
36:49 That's the reason that I'm standing up today to support getting rid of the rule
36:53 because the rule shouldn't even be here.
36:55 It wasn't something that we agreed on. It wasn't something that we talked about.
36:58 And then on top of that, they want to make sure that you can't sue with the timelines
37:02 because they have temporary rules.
37:04 They want to put the temporary rules out because you can't sue.
37:08 So we're in a catch-22 here, gang.
37:11 Forget about being a Democrat or Republican. Be an American.
37:14 Do the right thing. Let the market do what it does best.
37:17 The market will decide. The market will basically, "If you have a better mousetrap, I'll buy it."
37:22 But we shouldn't be buying it when we have to be totally reliant on a foreign country of concern.
37:27 And again, what we saw that Putin did and weaponized energy for our allies overseas,
37:35 I tell you that Xi Jinping from China will do the same thing with the critical minerals
37:40 that we're depending on.
37:42 And if our transportation mode for our economy, our work, our getting our goods to market
37:46 is dependent upon him giving us what we need, it ain't going to happen, gang.
37:51 Why we're going down this path.
37:53 So Senator from Idaho, Senator Crapo, my dear friend,
37:57 thank you for working with us together on this thing to try to bring common sense to it.
38:01 And it's exactly what we've talked about.
38:03 So these charts are telling you exactly what happened.
38:05 I'm telling you exactly how it happened.
38:07 And if the President was standing here and if the Speaker of the House was standing here
38:11 and if the majority of the Senate was standing here, they'd all have to agree
38:14 because they were with me when we made the deal.
38:17 That was the deal. That I can tell you. That's the facts.
38:20 There's nothing else that we can talk about.
38:22 Why we're even having to vote down a rule that should never be before us
38:26 makes no sense to me at all.
38:28 So yes, just do what we said we would do.
38:30 Bring manufacturing back to America.
38:33 Bring basically the reliable things that we do and do best here.
38:36 And make sure that we have the energy that we can produce it.
38:39 The rate they're going now, if you electrify what they want to,
38:42 we will not have the energy or the grid or the capacity to handle everything.
38:46 And then you're going to have people basically having rolling brownouts or blackouts
38:50 or paying exorbitantly high prices for energy that's absolutely driven by the mistakes that are being made today.
38:57 I urge everybody in this body, Democrat and Republican alike,
39:01 to vote yes on this overturning of this rule that is not part of America, not part of what we do.
39:08 And with that, I thank you, Madam, and I yield the floor.
39:11 Madam President.
39:12 Madam President.
39:13 Senator from Nebraska.
39:15 Madam President, I am joining my colleagues today in resisting this EV mandate
39:21 and commend them for attempting to defund this EV mandate.
39:27 This mandate would require two-thirds of all new vehicles being sold in the United States in 2032 to be electric vehicles.
39:36 And it is going to be incredibly harmful to our American families, especially low-income families.
39:45 The cost to consumers is going to be great.
39:47 The average low-income family spends about $12,000 on a new vehicle or a used vehicle to be able to get around.
39:56 And frankly, for many families, and especially families in states like mine and Nebraska,
40:01 this is the pathway out of poverty.
40:04 Getting that vehicle, spending that $12,000, being able to get to a job, being able to increase your income,
40:12 that's how American families get to work in states like mine.
40:18 And we're going to be robbing those families of that opportunity with this EV mandate,
40:24 harming those low-income families.
40:27 It's also going to be harmful for families in rural areas.
40:31 In states like Nebraska, people drive long distances in rural areas to get to work.
40:37 And right now, for example, you'll look at 99 of our 147 cities don't have a charger.
40:43 If you're in some of our cities like Bloomfield or Alliance or Valentine,
40:49 you're 45 minutes from the nearest charging station.
40:51 That's not practical.
40:53 Oh, and by the way, guess what? It gets cold in Nebraska.
40:57 When the temperature drops below 20 degrees, you lose 40% of your charge on an EV.
41:02 So not only will you not be able to find a charging station,
41:04 you won't have very much charge to be able to get there.
41:07 It's harmful for agriculture because you're not going to be able to just pull over on the side of a road
41:14 if you've got a truck that's hauling cattle and stop in 95-degree heat for two or three hours.
41:21 This EV mandate makes no sense.
41:25 It does not work for vast stretches of this country.
41:28 Again, I think EVs are cool.
41:31 They have fast acceleration, and they work in urban areas, like perhaps here on the East Coast.
41:36 But in states like mine, they're impractical.
41:39 And my esteemed colleague from West Virginia was talking about how the Biden administration
41:47 has not thought this through.
41:49 I said on the Environment and Public Works Committee,
41:52 "We're going to have the chance to question officials that support this."
41:55 And let me tell you, they have no plan for the power generation.
41:58 They have no plan for the transmission.
42:00 And by the way, just so the American public knows,
42:03 they're assuming that every EV is charged with 100% renewable energy.
42:08 And folks, that is a lie.
42:10 That does not exist anywhere in this country where you can find a state
42:15 that 100% of their energy comes from renewable energy.
42:19 The highest state for it is South Dakota at 50%.
42:22 States on the East Coast are generally single digit as far as the percent of their electricity
42:28 generated from renewable energy.
42:30 So they're also selling you a lie.
42:34 It is not true.
42:36 So for those reasons, I also urge my colleagues to support this Congressional Review Act,
42:42 and I want to compliment the senior senators from Idaho and from West Virginia
42:46 for bringing this attempt to defund this EV mandate.
42:49 And now that this EV mandate has been published in the Federal Register,
42:54 the senator from Alaska and I will be bringing another CRA to stop the implementation of this rule as well.
43:01 Madam President, I yield back my time.
43:04 Madam President.
43:06 Senator from Idaho.
43:08 Madam President, I rise today in support of Senate Bill 4072.
43:12 I introduced this legislation and pushed for this vote to ensure that no fiscal year 2024 funds
43:19 can be used to implement, administer, or enforce the Environmental Protection Agency's tailpipe emissions rule.
43:27 I deeply appreciate the support of the senators who have spoken today.
43:31 Senator Manchin, a Democrat, made it very clear this is a bipartisan piece of legislation,
43:37 basically based on the fact that it violates the very deal that was made earlier
43:44 to help us look at transitioning away from emissions that are harmful to the environment.
43:51 If you listen to Senator Manchin, he made it very clear that we don't have the capacity to do this right now.
44:01 He talked about some critical points.
44:03 Senator Ricketts just pointed out that we don't even have the capacity today to provide the necessary electricity.
44:09 Let me explain this.
44:10 I was talking and have talked to a lot of experts, to an expert recently, in global warming issues.
44:17 This person told me that we can have all the electric vehicle mandates we want,
44:22 but if the load is not clean, then the solution will not be clean.
44:28 What did that mean?
44:29 That means if the electricity that we rely on is not made by renewable sources,
44:36 that the mandate will be ineffective.
44:40 That's a critical point to be made because today, as has been indicated,
44:44 our major source of the load is natural gas.
44:48 The very electricity that is created in this country to utilize on the roads,
44:55 if this mandate goes into place, is not going to be the sort of clean load that is necessary
45:01 for this massive effort to transition to a completely electric vehicle economy.
45:07 And the damage will be suffered by the American people in many different ways.
45:14 But one of the critical ways that that damage will be suffered is that whether it is with regard to the critical minerals that are needed,
45:21 which this administration is not assisting us in helping to improve in the United States
45:26 and strengthen in the United States,
45:28 or whether it is based on other aspects of developing that load that they need,
45:34 the American people will see the problem in our economy, and China will be the beneficiary.
45:41 It will be China who is the one who can economically accomplish these objectives
45:46 and send these electric vehicles to us or the batteries that these electric vehicles require,
45:53 and China is not working with clean load either.
45:57 As my colleague from Wyoming talked about,
46:00 they're putting out unclean load in the terms of this debate every single day
46:06 at massive amounts higher than ours.
46:09 So what are we going to do?
46:11 We're going to make the United States vehicle industry dependent on China.
46:16 We're going to make the United States citizens who drive cars and trucks dependent on China
46:22 and reduce our economic independence from China's anti-competitive pressures.
46:28 That's what this debate really is about.
46:32 The EPA's rule is the most aggressive form of tailpipe emissions standard ever crafted
46:39 and imposes a de facto electric vehicle mandate on the American people.
46:47 Under the rule, automakers must decrease their average fleet-wide emissions by more than 50 percent,
46:54 down from the current 192 grams of CO2 per mile to just 85 grams per mile
47:00 in less than 10 years in order to be compliant.
47:05 The only way that these standards could possibly be met
47:10 is through the mass production and adoption of electric vehicles,
47:14 a fact of which the Biden administration and the Biden EPA is well aware,
47:20 once again increasing our reliance on China.
47:26 The rule effectively regulates gas-powered vehicles, cars and trucks,
47:30 out of the marketplace, which, make no mistake, is the goal of this administration.
47:37 As a result of the rule, internal combustion engines, or ICE vehicles,
47:43 which still represent the overwhelming majority of new car sales in the United States,
47:48 can make up no more than 30 percent of the new sales by 2032,
47:53 if automakers are even able to be able to be compliant with these standards.
47:59 The rule represents yet another attempt by the Biden administration
48:03 to use the rulemaking process to force its costly climate agenda on Americans
48:09 and pick winners or losers in our free market.
48:14 These emissions standards go too far and will restrict affordable vehicle choices for families,
48:21 harm U.S. businesses, degrade our energy and national security,
48:27 and hand the keys of our automotive industry over to China,
48:31 which currently dominates the entire electric vehicle supply chain
48:36 and has no intention of reducing the carbon intensity of its economy, anytime soon.
48:43 The personal decision of what a consumer chooses to drive should not be made by Washington,
48:49 let alone by circumventing Congress.
48:52 I urge my Republican colleagues and my Democrat colleagues to join me in voting yes on this legislation
49:00 to prevent American taxpayer dollars from being used to implement, administer, or enforce this disastrous EPA rule.
49:10 Thank you, Madam President, and I yield my time.
49:13 [The bill is signed.]