The Biden-Harris administration approved California's electric vehicle mandate that will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade—a move that impacts 11 other states that agreed to adopt California's mandate.
The Environmental Protection Agency formally granted California a waiver Wednesday, allowing it to supersede federal vehicle emissions rules with its own, stricter regulations. Under California's rules, which the state is now empowered to enforce, 35 percent of all model year 2026 cars sold next year must be electric. That share steadily increases every year until 2035 when all new car sales in the state must be electric.
But California's EV mandate doesn't just impact the state's residents. Federal law allows other states to adopt California's emissions rules that receive a waiver from the EPA. Eleven other states and Washington, D.C.—which are collectively home to 40 percent of all new vehicle registrations—have passed laws adopting California's electric vehicle mandate.
The EPA's waiver represents the latest instance of the Biden-Harris administration forcing through as much of its climate agenda as possible before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
While the waiver will likely be revoked in the early days of the Trump administration, environmental groups have signaled their readiness to use the legal system to defend the Biden administration's regulations.
"It is no surprise that President Biden waited until the eleventh hour of his presidency to run roughshod over the wishes of the American people by granting California permission to ban gas-powered cars and light trucks," said Tom Pyle, the president of the American Energy Alliance. "Americans should be free to choose the types of cars and trucks that best suit their needs, not ones that bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento dictate to them."
According to the latest data issued by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, none of the states following California's regulations have an electric vehicle market share above 20 percent. Just 10 percent of car sales in New York, for example, are electric and just 5 percent of car sales in New Mexico are electric. Both states have adopted California's rules.
Fossil fuel industry groups, including American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute, blasted the waiver Wednesday and signaled their intent to challenge it in court.
"EPA’s authorization of the California ban and California’s ban itself are unlawful. These policies will harm consumers—millions of whom don’t even live in California—by taking away their ability to buy new gas cars in their home states and raising vehicle and transportation costs," said American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president and CEO Chet Thompson.
The California Air Resources Board, a state environmental agency, first unveiled the Advanced Clean Cars II rules in August 2022 and has since awaited the Biden administration's formal approval.
"Clean cars are here to stay," California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) said on Wednesday. "The Biden-Harris Administration reaffirmed what we’ve known for decades—California can rise to the challenge of protecting our people by cleaning our air and cutting pollution."
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