Tesla Urges US to Keep Emissions Rules Meant to Boost EVs
Tesla 'Respectfully Encourages EPA Not to Rescind the Endangerment Finding,' Which Is 'Based on a Robust Factual and Scientific Record'
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Tesla Inc. urged U.S. environmental regulators to maintain ambitious tailpipe emissions standards that were put in place to push the industry to sell electric vehicles in larger numbers.
Regulations finalized under President Joe Biden that assumed more than 50% of the U.S. auto market would be composed of fully electric models by 2032 “are a lawful exercise of authority Congress provided to EPA to regulate greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles,” Tesla said in a regulatory filing posted online by the Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 24.
The comments come as the EPA considers rescinding a key finding that greenhouse gas emissions from cars and other sources pose a threat to public health. The so-called endangerment finding provided the legal basis for the federal government’s most ambitious efforts to slash planet-warming emissions, including those from automobiles.
It also provided a regulatory framework to support Tesla’s investments in product development and production, the automaker said in its comments.
RELATED: EPA Plans to Scrap US Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
Tesla said it “respectfully encourages EPA not to rescind the endangerment finding, as that finding is lawful, based on a robust factual and scientific record, and has been an established part of federal law for more than 15 years.”
Tesla models Y and 3 at a dealership in Corte Madera, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Bloomberg)
Other carmakers have urged the EPA to roll back the Biden-era emissions rules, calling them “simply not achievable,” in separate comments submitted by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents nearly all major manufacturers except Tesla.
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The EPA’s effort to repeal the endangerment finding is part of a series of actions under President Donald Trump to curtail federal support for electric vehicles, of which Tesla is the nation’s largest seller.
Trump enacted legislation earlier this year that effectively terminated California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and his signature tax-and-spending bill ends a $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric vehicle purchases Sept. 30.
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