Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) led the California Republican Congressional delegation in sending a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom regarding the recent decision by the California Air Resource Board to advance their August 2022 mandate that requires 100% of new car sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035. The lawmakers ask the Governor and CARB Chair Liane Randolph to consider alternate policies to reduce emissions that do not add additional strain to the state’s energy grid or restrictions on consumer choice.
“America has a free market – if consumers want an electric vehicle and can afford it, they have a right and opportunity to purchase one,” LaMalfa said Monday, in a news release. “The government, on the other hand, must be disallowed from forcing this decision onto its citizens. The truth is that electric vehicles aren’t a reliable option for everyone, nor are they affordable, nor can it be presumed that people even want them. As well, our state’s electric grid does not even have the capacity to support what we have now, turning California into an even bigger laughing stock of inane policies. I am urging Governor Newsom and the California Air Resource Board to choose common-sense and halt this overreaching mandate.” â–