The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to protect cars with internal combustion engines amid new regulations from California that would limit them.
The Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, introduced by Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., would prevent states from adopting emission standards for new vehicles that restrict the sale of gas-powered cars, as some states, like California, have proposed to do. The measure passed the House by a vote of 222-190, Joyce tweeted.
“California regulators shouldn’t have the power to determine what vehicles are sold to families in Pennsylvania,” Joyce wrote in a statement issued before the House vote. “One state should not be able to set national policy and Americans should not be forced into making purchases they are unable to afford.”
Joyce’s bill would amend the Clean Air Act, which allows the Environmental Protection Agency to waive national standards for states that adopt their own emissions standards, a provision inserted expressly for California, according to the American Action Forum.
The Clean Air Act also allows states to adopt California’s stricter standards, resulting in 17 other states enacting them, according to the California Air Resources Board.
A 2022 decision by the board to require 100% of all cars sold in California to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 could spread to all those states, and could affect approximately 40% of all vehicles purchased in the United States, according to the AAF.
The bill passed by the House prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing a new waiver to enable California’s standards to take effect. It also bars the EPA from certifying California as compliant with an existing waiver.
“It’s about making sure people have the option of driving practical, functional, and affordable cars,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a written statement before the vote. “And it’s about embracing the legacy of the American auto industry.”
Electric vehicles often cost more to purchase than gas-powered vehicles, CNBC reported, even as the congressional Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act offers a $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicle purchases. The vehicles also have a limited range due to the limited availability of charging stations outside metropolitan areas.
“The [Biden] administration strongly opposes passage of HR 1435,” the U.S. Office of Management and Budget wrote Tuesday in a statement about the bill. “Congress protected [California’s] authority to address its unique and ongoing air quality challenges and to give other states the option to adopt the innovative clean car and truck technologies California pioneered.”
Joyce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report was published originally by the Daily Caller News Foundation
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