In today’s hyper-polarized political climate, President Joe Biden’s moderating instincts are often useful, as demonstrated by the infrastructure deal finally coming together in Congress. A half-loaf that is clearly better than nothing. But when it comes to putting out the raging wildfire that is climate change, it’s more apt to paraphrase, of all people, Barry Goldwater: Moderation is no virtue.
So it’s a relief that the Biden administration is returning to and ultimately exceeding the standards that the Obama administration set for the automobile industry — albeit not quickly enough for some environmentalists — after the Trump administration recklessly rolled them back. Perhaps more crucially, Biden’s plan would accelerate the movement toward electric vehicles.
Automobile emissions are a key driver of human-caused global warming, the ominous effects of which are all around us these days in the form of extreme weather events, melting glaciers and rising sea levels. The burning of fossil fuels like gasoline releases carbon dioxide, which is among the gases that have been building up in the atmosphere and trapping the sun’s heat, creating the greenhouse effect that has raised average planetary temperatures beyond anything seen in recorded history.
The Obama administration sought to counter the threat in part by requiring U.S. automakers to improve mileage efficiency in their cars year by year (since increased efficiency means less burning of gasoline). The Obama rule called for a 5% increase in efficiency each year. Automakers, of course, chafed at that requirement — but even they weren’t looking for the permit-to-pollute deal that the Trump administration subsequently offered.
Former President Donald Trump’s childish obsession with erasing as much of Barack Obama’s legacy as he could was more evident on the issue of climate change than virtually any other. Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accord, rolled back environmental restrictions on drilling and other industry — and reduced the 5% annual efficiency improvement on cars that the Obama White House imposed, dropping it to a mere 1.5%.
That level was so anemic that even top automakers balked. Four of them cut a side-deal with California, whose automobile standards are generally adopted nationally because of the massive market there. That deal called for efficiency improvement of 3.7% annually — lower than what Obama sought, but well above Trump’s rule. Trump’s unintentionally comical response was to accuse carmakers (whose products are some of the biggest polluters on the planet) of being too “politically correct” on climate change.
Biden’s proposed standards would initially start at the ones set forth in the California deal, which rankles some environmentalists. But going forward, the Biden plan quickly meets and then exceeds Obama’s standards. It’s a recognition that the auto industry can’t turn on a dime. And Biden’s separate call for 50% of all new car sales by 2030 to be electric cars is potentially transformative. This is the right route.