The ethanol industry received a potential break with Congress’s repeal of a Biden-era federal waiver that would have allowed California to implement an electric vehicle mandate by 2035.
California and eleven other states have now been sent back ot the drawing board on how ot make a shift towards more electric vehicles.
The mandate would have imposed fines as high as $20,000 on purchasers of gas-powered vehicles.
California has called the repeal “unlawful” and has now vowed to sue the Trump administration over the congressional action. Senate Environment Chair Shelley Moore Capito argues that the mandate would have limited consumer decision-making.
“Forcing certain states and certain customers to purchase a vehicle that they may not want or that they can’t find,” she explains. “It really eliminates what I think our country was built on, which is individual choice and making decisions for yourself.”
The repeal is being hailed as a victory by both the ethanol and petroleum industries, as well as many automakers.
