Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has taken legal action to halt an electric-vehicle mandate proposed by the Biden-Harris administration. A brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, opposing the rule that targets truck manufacturers. This move is part of a larger effort by 24 states, collectively challenging the mandate in Nebraska v. EPA.
Attorney General Murrill stated, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ bureaucrats in D.C. want everyone in Louisiana to drive an electric vehicle or frankly no cars at all - and now they want to transform the trucking industry to require an ‘electric-truck mandate.’ This would only raise prices even more for industries and consumers throughout our state and country."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a rule earlier this year imposing strict emissions standards on heavy-duty vehicles, pushing manufacturers towards electric trucks over internal-combustion ones. The coalition argues that this mandate presents a "major question" that Congress has not explicitly authorized the EPA to address.
According to the brief, currently, only 0.10 percent of heavy-duty trucks are battery-powered. The new rule aims to increase this figure to 45 percent within ten years, which opponents argue could disrupt logistics industries, strain the electric grid, and increase costs for consumers.
Murrill emphasized her support for citizens' rights to choose their vehicles without federal imposition: "I stand with Louisiana citizens to make their own decisions about what type of vehicle they want to buy and drive.”
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Virginia West Virginia and Wyoming have joined Murrill's efforts against this regulation.