Washington, D.C. – Today, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers helped pass the bipartisan Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act (H.R. 1435) to prevent Governor Jay Inslee’s radical ban on gas-powered vehicles in Washington state.

Specifically, this legislation would block the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing waivers for regulations that ban the sale or use of new motor vehicles with internal combustion engines.

“People in Eastern Washington are tired of Governor Inslee copying California’s every move,” said Rodgers. “His obsession with rush-to-green mandates – banning everything from gas-powered cars to furnaces and stoves – is chipping away at our freedoms and forcing families to purchase expensive alternatives they can’t afford and don’t want. This has to stop, which is why I helped pass the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act to send a clear message to the governor that his days of controlling people in our state are over.”

In August of 2022, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to place restrictions on automakers that would essentially ban the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2035. 17 other states, including Washington, are set to follow California’s lead with the Washington Department of Ecology adopting the state’s standards in December 2022.

EV Mandates are Unaffordable and Impractical

• The majority of vehicles – 95 percent – on the road today in the United States run on internal combustion engines. 
• Electric vehicles (EVs) are still too expensive for many Americans, with the average transaction price of an EV costing $17,000 more than a gas-powered car in 2022.
• Gas-powered vehicles continue to outperform EVs with significantly higher ranges, greater towing capacity, and less susceptibility to issues caused by severe weather conditions. EVs lose 40 percent of their range in cold weather.
• The lack of vehicle charging infrastructure in many parts of the country, especially rural areas, makes EVs impractical for many people in Eastern Washington.
• Rapid EV expansion could overwhelm the electric grid and compromise grid reliability, which would result in blackouts and other issues. 
• China controls the vast majority of the mining, processing, and manufacturing of critical minerals for electric vehicles, including 75 percent of lithium-ion batteries, as well as processing and refining capacity for over half of the world’s lithium, cobalt, and graphite.

CLICK HERE to read the bill.

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