Back to the Drawing Board: Congress has repealed California’s electric vehicle mandate

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.

Related Stories
Host of RealAg Radio Shaun Haney discusses how the proposed reductions to agriculture programs in Canada’s new budget could affect research and support programs that farmers need.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu (HPAI) cases are rising. In the last week, seven commercial turkey, duck, and egg layer flocks were culled across five Midwest states and California.
A SCOTUS ruling on Trump’s tariffs could have long-term implications on the authority of future administrations to control U.S. trade policy, according to RFD-TV legal expert Roger McEowen.
The Sheinbaum–Rollins meeting signals progress, but the focus remains on fully containing screwworm before cross-border movement resumes.
RaboResearch says China’s pivot from mass production to innovation-driven growth could reshape global pesticide supply chains — and influence prices and product access for U.S. farmers in the coming years.