AFPM latest to launch lobbying effort over new US EPA emissions standards

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers launched what it called a "major seven-figure issue campaign" on Feb. 12 aimed at "informing Americans about the Biden administration's efforts to ban new gas, diesel and flex fuel vehicles from the US market," it said.

Television ads will run in seven crucial states in the upcoming 2024 US elections, including swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona, as well as more the conservative-leaning Montana and Ohio, where Democratic senators Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown are respectively running for reelection.

The campaign marks the latest industry response to new Environmental Protection Agency standards on tailpipe emissions for model years 2027-2032, which are expected to be finalized in March. At its announcement last year, the EPA projected the changes could help boost EV sales to 67% of new cars by model year 2032 while reducing US oil imports by 20 billion barrels. Critics claim the new rules -- which classify EVs as zero-emission vehicles -- over-prioritize a nascent EV product to the detriment, or de facto elimination, of already available biofuel and hybrid options.

"The Biden administration is overseeing a whole-of-government campaign to eliminate new gas, diesel, flex fuel and traditional hybrid vehicles," AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson said in a statement. "This forced electrification agenda is bad for American families, bad for our economy and indefensible in terms of US national security."

The AFPM's assertion that the new EPA rules effectively amount to an internal combustion engine ban is not new. In January, more than 4,700 auto dealerships sent a letter to the Biden administration insisting the new standards amounted to an "elective vehicle mandate" with which they could not comply. Speaking at a 2023 House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the new rules would not ban ICE vehicles but would "guide the future and complement the market."

The National Corn Growers Association, the largest group of corn farmers in the US, wrote a letter to President Biden on Feb. 7 warning that his administration "may be overlooking the benefits of biofuels as it rushes to embrace electric vehicles." The NCGA -- traditionally at odds with oil lobbying and auto retailer groups, all of whom now fight side-by-side in the face of the EV threat -- cited, among other concerns, long dealer lot times and limited market demand.

Global plug-in light duty EV sales in November 2023 reached an all-time high of 1,476,773 units, marking a 46% year-over-year increase, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data. Plug-in EVs made up 23% of all cars sold in November.

Still, EVs earned just 8% of overall US market share in 2023. S&P Global analysts forecast 13 million light-duty EVs will be sold in 2024.