‘Even if they wanted an EV, fewer and fewer families could afford one because of historic inflation’
FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 26, 2024) – Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced today that they filed a challenge to the Biden Administration’s latest attempt to drive gas-powered cars off the road. The pair led a 26-state effort to block the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) strict fuel efficiency standards in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The Biden Administration’s new rule requires car manufacturers to dramatically increase the average fuel economy of passenger cars and light trucks in less than a decade. The new regulation imposes unworkable standards that leverage the weight of the federal government to require auto manufacturers to produce more EVs. The forced transition to EVs would bypass the free market while increasing costs on families and undermining the reliability of the electric grid.
EVs account for less than 1% of vehicles registered in Kentucky.
“President Biden has spent billions and mobilized the entire federal government to push EVs, and Americans still aren’t buying it. Even if they wanted an EV, fewer and fewer families could afford one because of historic inflation,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Kentuckians want the Biden Administration to focus on the crisis at the border, violent crime and the surge of deadly drugs instead of picking its favorites in the auto industry.”
In April, Coleman and Morrisey led a 25-state challenge to a similar EV mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
“Congress did not give the NHTSA such power to reshape an industry that would ultimately affect the pocketbooks of consumers— this rule is legally flawed and unrealistic,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “This will undoubtedly cause the United States to be dependent on other nations like China for our energy needs and will undermine American energy security by increasing demand and strain power grids. The Biden administration’s mission seems to be to cripple the economy, increase inflation and prolong the suffering of millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet.”
Since taking office six months ago, Attorney General Coleman has become a leading defender of Kentucky families from the Biden Administration’s radical green agenda. He is leading national coalitions of attorneys general to challenge EV mandates and burdensome regulations on manufacturing facilities.
Recognizing the pressing threat, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers led the General Assembly to establish a $3 million Electric Reliability Defense Fund to equip the Attorney General’s Office to protect Kentucky families from the Biden Administration’s job-killing regulations.
Attorneys General Coleman and Morrisey were joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
Read the challenge filed in the Sixth Circuit.