After four years of unpopular and unrealistic policies, Americans were ready for change and a return to common sense.

As part of this effort, Senate Republicans have put the brakes on a variety of mandates handed down in the final days and weeks of the Biden presidency.

One radical effort to transform our nation’s automotive and energy markets stands to burden many, if not most, Arkansans and others across our country. Fortunately, Congressional Republicans are putting a stop to it.

Through the Clean Air Act of the 1970s, California was handed the unique and preferential ability to enact vehicle emissions standards stricter than those set by the federal government. Only the Golden State enjoys this privilege and, in the final months of the Biden administration, its legislature and governor seized the opportunity to decree that in just 10 years, all vehicles sold in California must meet net zero-emissions standards despite warnings about the consequences. 

The impact of this decision is far reaching, raising important concerns regarding one state’s ability to set national policy. 

California’s share of the domestic automotive market stands at 11 percent, allowing it to wield significant influence over broader trends and demands. The potential repercussions of extreme, ill-conceived policies are outsized and only expand when, as in this case, 17 other states and the District of Columbia mimic and inflate California’s sway, reaching an estimated 40 percent of the market.

This has created an impending, de-facto nationwide ban on the traditional gas-powered vehicles that millions of Americans use to drive to work, pick up their children from school and more. 

If the electric vehicle (EV) mandate were allowed to proceed, it would significantly disrupt an already struggling auto market. Manufacturers will be forced to alter production lines, develop or source new batteries and ultimately increase American reliance on Chinese critical minerals such as lithium, manganese and cobalt – all necessary for electric vehicle production and largely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. 

Those considerations aside, the practical effect of forcefully transitioning the car market to electric-only options is impractical and disregards the situations of millions of Americans, including in our state.

Not only would transportation become more expensive, but the end result would also hurt farm families and rural residents in addition to damaging small businesses and supply chains that cannot reasonably depend on low range, low-lift electric vehicles to get the job done. It all simply defies common sense.

That is why an array of organizations united to oppose this regulatory nightmare, including the National Association of Convenience Stores, National Automobile Dealers Association and the American Farm Bureau.

Although bureaucratic hurdles and maneuvering were deployed to protect this sweeping EV rule, Congress worked to assert its constitutional authority and oversight to overturn California’s radical initiative. It has now headed to the president’s desk after passing the House and Senate.

I am proud to have joined my colleagues to block the waiver that the Biden administration granted to California before it could take effect. Arkansans deserve to choose the vehicles they wish to purchase and drive and should not have to suffer the consequences of another states’ radical policies.