Mr. Speaker, the government proudly announced recently that it was removing its failed EV mandate and replacing it with a shiny new emissions standard, but, as Shakespeare warned us:
Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't.
The surface appears to have changed. The explicit sales quota is gone, but beneath it seem to lurk the same coercive rules.
The old mandate aimed for 100% zero-emissions vehicles by 2035. The new emissions standard, by the government's own proposal in its press release, will result in 75% EV adoption by 2035 and 90% EV adoption by 2040. Therefore, automakers will still endure the same intense pressures, credits, penalties and subsidies to sell mostly electric vehicles.
If this is not really just the old mandate, if it is not just the snake in disguise, can the government please explain to me what the difference is?