Fuel Group Targets Biden Electric Vehicle Agenda in Swing States

A trade group representing fuel and petrochemical manufacturers will unveil new ads Wednesday attacking the Biden administration’s effort to impose strict tailpipe emissions standards on cars and trucks.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers will launch its second round of ads as part of a $7 million media blitz in election battleground states, opposing what the group has called the White House’s de facto ban on new gas-powered cars because of its ambitious electric vehicle agenda.

The spots are running in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, on multiple platforms including network television, cable television, and billboards. The group’s ad campaign, which launched Feb. 12, is intended to educate voters in those states about the “whole suite” of electric vehicle-related rules the administration is weighing, including the tailpipe emissions rule, said Chet Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers.

“Most people have no idea this is happening, and when they find out, they are none too pleased,” Thompson said in an interview last week, citing AFPM polling in swing states that showed significant opposition to “government efforts to ban gas, diesel and flex fuel vehicles and impose electric vehicle mandates.”

The Environmental Protection Agency this spring is expected to release a final rule mandating tough emissions reduction standards for new vehicles beginning in 2027. Automakers have pushed back against the proposal, saying the tailpipe-emissions mandates will be nearly impossible for them to meet, given where electric vehicle production and sales currently stand.

The criticism—and reality of the EV market and infrastructure—reportedly has forced the administration to rethink its aggressive timetable related to an electric vehicle transition.

Biden Proposes Stronger Than Expected Vehicle Emission Rules

“We think this is a gigantic head fake,” to moderate some of the proposed rules, said Thompson, a former EPA official during the George W. Bush administration. “We are supportive of increased efficiency standards” and reducing emissions in the transportation sector, he added. But the administration needs to do things “transparently, consistent with the law” and conduct a full lifecycle analysis of emissions reductions that includes hybrid vehicles as well.

EV advocates disagree that the Biden administration’s agenda amounts to a ban on gas cars and say the policy will improve public health. In an emailed statement, Albert Gore, executive director of advocacy group Zero Emissions Transportation Association, said: “This campaign is a blatant attempt to deceive the American people about an EPA proposal that is far from a ‘ban’ on gas-powered vehicles.”

“The rulemaking is an attempt to cut tailpipe pollution in half over the next decade in order to save lives. Our industry, led by innovations in electrified drivetrains and pulled forward by rapidly expanding consumer demand for these products, has centered on electrification as the best way to build cars that pollute less,” he added.

The EPA in January said the proposed tailpipe emissions rule was with the Office of Management and Budget and would not comment on it further. EPA spokesperson Shayla Powell said the agency had received 250,000 public comments on the proposed regulation.

In addition to the EPA tailpipe emissions rule, the Transportation Department has issued more stringent fuel economy standards for cars and trucks through 2032.

Separately, California wants the EPA to issue a waiver under the Clean Air Act to allow it to impose its “advanced clean cars II” regulations to put more EVs on the road. Congressional Republicans have urged the EPA to reject this request, saying in a Feb. 27 letter to Administrator Michael Regan that it would “forcibly transform the national auto market and limit purchasing options to expensive electric vehicles, which most Americans and Californians do not want and cannot afford.”