Biden sets a goal that 50% of cars sold by 2030 do not emit CO ₂

U.S. President Joe Biden doesn’t want to mince words. Its goal is that by 2030, half of the new cars that enter the country’s gigantic fleet – which amounts to about 289 million, according to the most recent data from the vehicle registry – will not emit carbon dioxide. An extraordinary step forward in the fight to curb global warming that, according to the industry, needs strong economic support from the Government.

This Thursday, Biden meets at the White House with the great figures of the sector: the three main automakers in the country, based in Detroit, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, to which he will present his decree to establish that goal. Its intention is to cooperate with companies to boost the production of electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell cars.

“These new actions, along with investments in the president’s ‘Build Back Better’ agenda, will strengthen American leadership in clean cars and trucks by accelerating innovation and manufacturing in the automotive sector, boosting the domestic supply chain and increasing industry jobs with good wages and benefits,” the White House said in a statement. Biden will also announce that his administration is crafting greenhouse gas reduction standards and fuel economy requirements for all types of vehicles, according to the White House.

These decrees are a centerpiece of Biden’s environmental plans, and represent the first major move by his administration to attack carbon dioxide emissions caused by transportation, the main source of these gases in the United States, through regulation. The various agencies in charge of the standards are already squeezing oil producers with restrictions on methane emissions, or electric companies with carbon dioxide controls, undoing the steps back taken by the Donald Trump administration.

‘A drastic change’

“This represents a drastic change for the current U.S. market that can only be achieved with a joint rollout of electrification policies and incentives by the government,” Ford, General Motors and Stellantis said in a statement. “Our recent product, technology and investment announcements highlight our collective commitment to being a leader in america’s transition to electric vehicles.”

U.S. automakers have announced plans to invest billions in the production of carbon-neutral vehicles. GM, for example, pledged to sell only zero-emission models by 2035. Ford said it expects 40% of its global vehicle volume to be fully electric by 2030 and Stellantis has said it aims for more than 70% of sales in Europe and more than 40% in the U.S. to be of “low-emission vehicles” by 2030.

At the moment, Congress is processing some 7,500 million dollars to build a national network of ‘electrolineras’ and recharging points as part of the infrastructure plan. The figure, however, is only half of what Biden had originally budgeted.

The White House estimates that the new emissions standards, along with vehicle sales targets, will put the nation on the right track to reduce emissions from new vehicles by 60% by 2030 compared to 2020.

Source: The Economist