US adopts guidelines to phase out gas-powered automobiles in an effort to reduce its carbon impact

One of the biggest climate rules in US history was released by the Biden administration on Wednesday. It calls for a majority of new passenger cars and light trucks to be sold in the US by 2032 to be either all-electric or hybrid vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new tailpipe emission regulations, which had taken almost three years to develop, would revolutionise the US car industry.

Even though a record 1.2 million electric cars were sold last year, they only accounted for 7.6% of all automobile sales in the US, far short of the new regulation’s 56% objective. Hybrids would account for an extra 16% of newly sold vehicles.
The combined use of cars and other kinds of transport accounts for the majority of the US’s carbon emissions, which fuel climate change and contribute to 2023 being the warmest year on record.
President Biden’s plan to combat global warming, which aims to reduce the country’s emissions by half by the end of this decade, heavily relies on electric cars. However, EVs have also become political and are starting to come up in the 2024 presidential race. “Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission,” Biden said in a statement. “We’ll meet my goal and race forward in the years ahead.”
In order for automakers to fulfil the rules, the regulation gradually reduces the amount of pollution that may be released from tailpipes. By 2032, more than half of all new cars produced in the US are probably going to be zero-emission vehicles. According to the EPA, doing so would prevent the emission of more than 7 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. That is the same as eliminating all of the greenhouse gases produced by the US, which historically has contributed the most carbon dioxide to the climate, for a whole year. The government estimated that the law would provide around $100 billion in net benefits to society annually, of which $13 billion would come from better air quality and public health.
According to EPA estimates, the requirements would also save the typical driver over $6,000 in avoided fuel and maintenance costs over the course of a vehicle’s life. Large-scale adjustments to the workforce, global commerce, infrastructure, technology, production, and consumer behaviour would be necessary to make the switch to e-vehicles.