Biden-Harris Admin Under Pressure To Formally Acknowledge EVs Aren’t ‘Zero-Emission’
28th August 2024
The Biden-Harris administration is facing pressure to crack down on car advertisements that misleadingly characterize electric vehicles as “zero-emission” vehicles, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, four lawmakers led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) urged her to develop guidelines “to limit untruthful claims of zero-emission vehicles.” Ernst—alongside Sens. Mike Crapo (R., Idaho), Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.), and Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.)—noted the British Advertising Standards Authority requires auto companies to make clear in ads that EVs are only zero-emission when being driven.
The lawmakers’ letter further noted that EVs consume a large amount of energy, much of which is powered by fossil fuel sources like natural gas and coal. And they added that mining process for critical minerals required in EV batteries is even more carbon-intensive.