Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hern and U.S. Sens. Markwayne Mullin and James Lankford were among more than 130 Republican lawmakers who sent a letter to the White House urging the President to kill his proposed tailpipe emissions regulations that are intended to force drivers to switch to electric vehicles.
They were the only three members of the Oklahoma delegation to pen the letter in opposition to the EPA plan.
“This proposed rule, which would require 67% of new light-duty vehicles and 46% of medium-duty vehicles to be electric by 2032, amounts to a de facto mandate for EVs and phase out of the internal combustion engine vehicle,” stated the letter.
“Additionally, this rule is contradictory to all conventional predictions about where the automobile industry is headed in the coming years, including this Administration’s own Department of Energy. As reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook in 2021, 4 of 5 new vehicles will still run on liquid fuels in 2050, making this rule not just absurd to the average citizen, but to your own agencies as well.”
The letter was the brainchild of Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra who argued the rule was a “misguided decision” that strengthens China while weakening the U.S. economy. He said he was proud to urge Biden to withdraw the rule ” that would attempt to replace liquid fuels and combustion engines with unreliable and unaffordable electric vehicles.”