California Official Sees State Auto Emissions Deal as ‘Template’ for Biden
by Nichola Groom, David Shepardson (Reuters) California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, who sources say could be the next federal environment chief, said on Thursday her state’s agreement with manor automakers for fuel efficiency requirements could serve as a “good template” for federal standards through 2025.
The Trump administration in March finalized a rollback of U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to require 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026, well below the 5% yearly boosts in Obama administration rules it discarded.
California and other states have filed suit to challenge the rollback. Automakers including Ford Motor Co F.N, Honda Motor 7267.T and Volkswagen AG VOWG_p.DE struck a compromise deal with the state that falls between the Trump administration and Obama-era requirements.
Many automakers are bracing for a lengthy court or regulatory fights over tougher standards that they say could cost them billions of dollars.
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to negotiate “ambitious fuel economy standards” with industry, unions and environmental groups.
Nichols said California’s framework deal with automakers on emissions, announced in July 2019 and finalized in August 2020, “is a good template and then we should be moving on to the next generation of regulation.”
…
Nichols noted Biden could not immediately snap back to former President Barack Obama’s CAFE requirements. READ MORE
Kansas Biofuels Head Offers Post Election Views/ MORE (Energy.AgWired.com; includes AUDIO)
Biden’s CAFE Table for One Is Great News for Electric Vehicle Makers (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
NISSAN EXITS CLEAN CAR STANDARD SUIT: (Politico’s Morning Energy)
Excerpt from Energy.AgWired.com: (President and CEO of Renew Kansas Biofuels Association, Ron) Seeber was asked what his perspective was on biofuels under a Biden administration, including low carbon fuel standards in the Midwest. “A lot of it will have to do with who is appointed as head of the EPA under a Biden administration, what their overall energy policy is going to be, and whether there’s a place for biofuels in that policy,” said Seeber, noting that a move toward more electric vehicles rather than biofuels would be problematic. READ MORE
Excerpt from Center for Strategic and International Studies:
While virtually all segments of the clean energy sector had reasons to applaud Biden’s win, electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturers should have cheered loudest. Why? Because the next president will have it in his hands to make the United States a top market for the sales of EVs just they approach price parity with internal-combustion engine cars. Best of all, he can do it regardless of who controls Congress.
After taking office, Biden has said he will tear up the Trump administration’s corporate average fuel economy standards on light vehicles (cars). Trump’s Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) rule is itself a re-write of the regulation issued under Obama. Biden has promised his new rule will be even more stringent than the one written when he was vice president.
…
Just 320,000 EVs were sold in 2019. To address this, Congress could extend or expand consumer tax credits, which typically defray $7,500 per EV purchase. But even if it fails to do so, EV sales would have to grow sharply if the CAFE rule for cars get refortified.
My BloombergNEF colleagues Aleksandra O’Donovan and Corey Cantor have examined the implications of simply reverting to the Obama-era rules. In 2019, EVs accounted for just 2 percent of U.S. vehicle sales. They find that with the original Obama rules in place, by 2023, EV sales would jump to 15 percent of total car sales and by 2026, to 25 percent. That would translate potentially to 4 million new EV sales that year. Under the Trump administration SAFE efficiency rule for cars, EVs would have totaled under 5 percent and well under 1.5 million sold. Given that Biden has suggested his new CAFE rule could be even tougher than what Obama promulgated, the 4-million figure in 2026 could be regarded by automakers as a floor, not a ceiling. READ MORE
Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy: NISSAN EXITS CLEAN CAR STANDARD SUIT: Nissan Motor Co. is withdrawing from a lawsuit challenging California’s right to enforce greenhouse gas rules for automobiles, the company said Friday, becoming the second automaker to defect from the Trump administration’s defense after Biden’s victory. Just as General Motors did last month, Nissan said it would work with the Biden administration and California on national standards, Debra reports for Pros. Notably, like GM, Nissan didn’t mention changing its stance on a separate lawsuit challenging the replacement emissions rules themselves, in which the company is also backing the Trump administration. READ MORE
