The Biden administration just did something revolutionary

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     April 12, 2023 If you're not driving an electric car yet, you probably will be soon. (Provided, of course, that you drive a car at all.) The Environmental Protection Agency just proposed two ambitious new regulations that seek to cut vehicle emissions dramatically and ensure that [two-thirds of new vehicles]( sold by 2032 in the US are all-electric. That's a lot faster than many automakers had planned to transition to electric. The EPA anticipates that the rules could save between [$850 billion and $1.6 trillion]( in climate and health impacts. The rules do not explicitly say that a certain percentage of vehicles needs to be electric. Instead, they set pollution limits under the Clean Air Act that only electric vehicles are currently able to meet. But if automakers could figure out some other way to fuel a car without emissions, that's fair game, too. Some critics have called the emissions regulations government overreach, and Republican state attorneys general have already sued the EPA for allowing California to [set its own emissions standards](. But, as I [reported last month](, government regulations have historically spurred technological change. When the EPA mandated emissions reductions in the 1970s, "there was a big outcry from manufacturers because they had very limited technology that was available to them at the time,” John Mohr, a historian of technology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, told me. But the mandate worked. Cars became more efficient. Automakers were forced to comply, and they invested in creating technology that would allow them to. If you've ever had to bring your car in for an emissions test, you can thank the Clean Air Act. And if you live in a city and enjoy good air quality, you can thank the Clean Air Act for that, too. The EPA's new rules are a major step in the electric car revolution that has been a long time coming. Still, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to note that electric vehicles alone will not fix our country's transportation system. EVs require environmentally damaging [mining](; their heavy batteries pose substantial [safety risks]( during collisions; when those batteries go on fire, they're [extremely water-intensive]( to extinguish; and the dominance of electric cars won't quell our country's problematic automobile obsession. Some occupations will always require a car, and those cars should be electric. But I think if we can make it easier for more people to forgo car ownership—and all its attendant maintenance costs, insurance payments, safety risks, and all-around headaches—all the better. —Abigail Weinberg P.S. My fundraising colleagues are sweating out the final day of their big push for the donations that make our journalism possible. It sounds stressful, with some $85,000 still left to raise to hit the $300,000 goal they’re shooting for. So I wanted to give them an assist, and hope some of you might too. There’s more about why donations matter so much right now in their behind-the-scenes post, “[It’s Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal](,” and we’d all be incredibly grateful if you could [pitch in even just a few bucks]( to help us do the journalism we love doing for you—and a huge thanks to those who already have! Advertisement [Believe it or not, T-shirt weather is just around the corner]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Justin Pearson, Tennessee Democrat Expelled for Gun Control Protest, Is Reinstated]( The vote to return Pearson back comes days after Rep. Justin Jones was also reappointed. BY ARIANNA COGHILL MOJO MUST-READS BY TOM PHILPOTT   Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. 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We need to raise $300,000 quickly, and we need more online readers to [pitch in]( than have been. You can read more in "[It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal](," where we go into the brutal economics of journalism, and why a strong base of support from readers is the only way we can do the in-depth reporting you get from us. If you can right now, please pitch in and help us do it. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755