A requiem for the electric vehicle mandate

Republican legislators held five town hall meetings with Secretary Shawn Garvin of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Dave Stevenson of the Caesar Rodney Institute, and me to foster a discussion of the electric vehicle mandate. Subsequently, two bills were proposed to stop Garvin from unilaterally adopting the California standards.

Senate Bill 96 would have prohibited the DNREC secretary from adopting rules to slowly decrease the proportion of gas-powered vehicles delivered to automobile dealers to zero by 2035. Although co-sponsored by every Republican in the House and the Senate, the bill was tabled by the Senate Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee and was never voted upon. 

House Resolution 17 would have required DNREC to pause application of the California air-quality regulations in Delaware until a report of the fiscal impacts could be obtained. Although it had bipartisan support from all Republicans and two Democrats, HR 17 was defeated by a vote of 22-17 the same day it was proposed. 

However, House Bill 99 was passed with bipartisan support. Better known as the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023, HB 99 “establishes a statutory target of greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the medium and long term to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on the state.”  HB 99 creates climate change officers in key cabinet-level departments who will assist DNREC in the implementation of the Climate Action Plan and requires state agencies to consider climate change in decision-making, rule-making and procurement. HB 99 passed the House 27-13 and the Senate 15-5 with one absent. 

What does this mean for Delaware and its EV mandate? Delaware’s Climate Action Plan notes that the largest in-state source of greenhouse gas emissions comes from the transportation sector at 61%. Thus, if the state is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in just six-and-a-half years, there must be an EV mandate. 

The Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023 authorizes DNREC to implement the state’s Climate Action Plan, and it requires state agencies to take the initiative to consider climate change in all they do. Moreover, it expands the bureaucracy by creating a cadre of climate change officers across the executive branch to assist DNREC in its implementation of the Climate Action Plan. 

This transfer of power to the various state agencies was afforded by a vote of the state Legislature, which granted DNREC the power that the opposition to the EV mandate sought to squelch. Expect natural gas appliances and fireplaces, as well as fertilizer, to be under attack in subsequent legislative sessions because, despite objections to the contrary, the Legislature is attempting to save our state from climate change. Thus, Delaware’s legislators make it increasingly expensive for us to heat and cool our homes, cook food and get around. They are foolish if they think the state’s Climate Action Plan will cause anything more than economic hardship for our citizens.