Central ND News

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has taken a stand against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recent rulemakings aimed at promoting electric vehicles (EVs) at the expense of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Senator Cramer joined his colleagues in introducing two Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval to overturn these EPA regulations.

Senator Cramer, who opposes the Biden administration's push for EV mandates, criticized the EPA's actions, stating, "The Biden administration is doing everything in its power to regulate gas vehicles out of existence and push EVs on Americans. This EV mandate conveniently ignores the realities that EVs are not ready for mass adoption, and consumers do not even want them. You simply cannot force Americans to want something just because the government decides they should."

The first resolution of disapproval, led by U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), targets the EPA's strict emission standards for light and medium-duty vehicles, which aim to phase out internal combustion engines in favor of EVs. Senator Cramer's concerns extend to the EPA's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for heavy-duty vehicles, with a specific focus on the impracticality of the regulations for trucks. He emphasized, "The weight and space batteries take up to go less than 200-miles will grind our supply chain to a halt. This rule needs to be sent to the junkyard."

In addition to his legislative actions, Senator Cramer previously joined over 130 colleagues in sending a letter to President Joe Biden and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young, urging the rejection of the EPA's de facto mandate for electric vehicles. Furthermore, Senator Cramer co-sponsored the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act, which aims to prevent the EPA's imposition of EV mandates.

Senator Cramer's efforts reflect a broader resistance to what he perceives as government overreach in the promotion of electric vehicles, particularly when they may not align with consumer preferences or technological readiness.