The American Petroleum Institute (API), the National Corn Growers Association, and other industry groups have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s new regulations to slash greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks, and other vehicles.
The groups argue that the EPA’s recently finalized rules, which aim to increase electric vehicle sales to 56% of all new car sales by 2030-2032, will cause economic harm and unfairly favor electric vehicles over biofuels like corn ethanol.
The API, which represents the top U.S. oil and gas companies, said the regulations are “forcing a switch to technology that simply does not presently exist” for many types of vehicles. The National Corn Growers Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have also joined the legal challenge.
The agricultural groups contend that the EPA has “effectively mandate[d] the production of EVs, while blatantly excluding the ability of flex fuel vehicles and low-carbon, high-octane renewable fuels like ethanol to achieve significant vehicle emissions reductions.”
The new tailpipe emissions rules are a key part of the Biden administration’s broader plan to decarbonize the U.S. transportation sector, which accounts for over a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, the oil and corn industries have often clashed over biofuel policies but have now aligned to challenge the push for electric vehicles.
The U.S. auto industry has largely endorsed the new tailpipe standards, but the legal challenge from the oil and agriculture groups represents an ongoing battle over the future of vehicle technology and fuels.