Capito, Manchin push back on new EPA emission standards

The Biden administration’s push to speed up the process of getting more electric vehicles on the roads is drawing sharp criticism from both West Virginia U.S. Senators.

Proposed new auto pollution limits through the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would require that about two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the nation to be electric by 2032.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., called the proposed new standards “misguided,” not reflecting some realities of the development of EVs.

“They were made without considering the supply chain challenges American automakers are still facing, the lack of sufficiently operational electric vehicle charging infrastructure, or the fact that it takes nearly a decade to permit a mine to extract the minerals needed to make electric vehicles, forcing businesses to look to China for these raw materials,” she said.

One big issue is the manufacture of batteries for EVs.

“The investments for that have to be made in battery manufacturing,” Capito said. “We know we’re beholden to China right now. So we’re trying to draw that back into our own country and have domestically produced critical minerals and chips and everything…There are requirements for, and there is a great desire for us to have, domestic materials, whether they’re recycled or not. You’ve got to originate if you’re going to have this whole huge glut of new vehicles or trucks or whatever, or both, you have to have the critical minerals and you have to have the mine to do it. So, we have to have support for permitting reform and permitting of these mines.”

Other issues that need to be anticipated and addressed with widespread use of EVs include weight, safety, accident impacts and reinforcements along highways, she added.

Manchin, who is Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also released a statement about the new EPA standards on vehicle emissions.

“The EPA is lying to Americans with false claims about how their manipulation of the market to boost EVs will help American energy security,” he said. “In reality, this is a Trojan horse. To meet these timelines will mean strengthening our reliance on minerals and technologies controlled by the Chinese. Taken in concert with the clear violation of the IRA to undermine provisions that would actually secure these supply chains, this Administration is taking steps that will only result in a more energy secure and powerful China.”

Manchin said he doesn’t believe that “making progress on climate change should come at the expense of our national and energy security. I fully support Congress overturning these dangerous EPA regulations.”

On another issue, Capito, who is Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, held a hearing Wednesday on nuclear energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed fiscal 2024 budget.

During that hearing, she said the development of nuclear energy in the country and in West Virginia is progressing.

“The first new nuclear unit at Southern Company’s Vogtle site in Georgia went critical recently, it is now connected to the electric grid and is on the brink of commencing commercial operation,” she said.

“This is the first new commercial nuclear reactor in a generation and I think it’s a major achievement for America’s nuclear industry. It is also the first new reactor design to be fully developed, licensed, and constructed since Congress established the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nearly 50 years ago.”

Capito said advanced reactor development is progressing and states are pursuing deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.

“West Virginia is assessing options to deploy nuclear energy, building on our state’s proud legacy of serving as a leading energy provider,” she said. “While we reinvigorate our domestic nuclear sector, global events necessitate that America really reasserts our international leadership here.”

Capito and a bipartisan group of Senators recently introduced the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy, or the ADVANCE Act.

The legislation “puts us on a path to reestablish America as the undisputed international leader for nuclear energy technologies,” she said.

The act encourages investment “by facilitating more predictable licensing reviews and reducing regulatory costs, while ensuring the NRC continues to meet its core mission to enable the safe use of nuclear technologies.”