Seven national associations call on EPA to better scrutinize EV emissions

In Washington, America’s farmers, fuel marketers and retailers, and renewable fuel producers have called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt a market-oriented, technology-neutral approach to transportation decarbonization in its upcoming final tailpipe emissions standards for 2027-2032 light- and medium-duty vehicles.    

In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, seven national associations representing the full spectrum of the renewable fuel supply chain, said the proposed rule favors electric vehicles while failing to consider the decarbonization potential of existing biofuels that can improve the emissions profile of the vast majority of cars on the road today. The organizations recommend that EPA account for all emissions relating to different fuel and engine technologies and equitably incentivize emissions reductions from all of those technologies.

The associations support the agency’s goal of reducing over-the-road transportation emissions but are concerned that the agency’s proposed standards “artificially tilts the scale towards electric vehicles” while ignoring other available fuel and vehicle options that can help decarbonize the transportation sector more rapidly and at a lower cost. The groups also noted that “the proposed rule exceeds the scope of the Agency’s statutory authority, which does not include authority to set greenhouse gas emission standards that effectively mandate EVs.” 

The organizations submitting the letter include the Renewable Fuels Association; National Association of Convenience Stores; NATSO, Representing America’s Travel Plazas and Truckstops; National Corn Growers Association; National Farmers Union; SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers; and Growth Energy.