Is Biden really going to restrict gas-powered gas to 29% of the total?

Yup. By the way, I find this type of stupidity offensive...since we're throwing that word around lately.

#1: Plug-in hybrid cars are better for the environment. PERIOD. Unlike an EV, these cars produce far less pollution to produce. So the car doesn't require a 3-6 year operating period to reach green break even. Plus the average American car owner drives less than 50 miles per day. Ergo, plug-in hybrids use almost no gas.

So Biden is mandating that all 70% of all cars sold must be 100% EV within 8 years. That's fricken nuts (& worse for the environment).

BTW, only about 12% of emissions are produced by cars (heating, manuf and other uses have a larger footprint). Not to mention that China and India dominate the pollution landscape. They march to their own drummer.

Biden Is Coming for Your Truck

‘Historic progress’ on electric cars may turn into a historic rout in swing states.

By Kimberley A. Strassel

March 21, 2024 5:34 pm ET

Literature warns those who would meddle with great romances, be it Iago or Emma. Woe betide Joe Biden, now scheming to break Americans’ love affair with their automobiles.

This week’s Environmental Protection Agency tailpipe rule amounts to an imminent ban on gasoline-powered cars, never mind the soothing language of “incentivizing” a “transition.” Last year, 84% of all cars sold in America were powered by internal-combustion engines. By 2027, the government will restrict that share to 64%. In eight years, the cap will be 29%. High demand for the few gasoline vehicles still made at that point will drive up prices, making them unattainable to anyone but a limousine liberal. It’s a ban.

It’s also political malpractice. As he often has, Mr. Biden is dancing to the tune of a very loud if notably small progressive constituency—in this case, the climate lobby. It is made up largely of affluent city-dwellers—a white-collar elite. Climate is their First World problem, and they are going to vote for Mr. Biden anyway.

Who else approves? The White House will point to a cheerleading automotive industry, but peek behind the pom-poms and you see an administration with a gun to carmakers’ heads. Ford and General Motors can either beg politely for more subsidies or confront reality and express disapproval, in which case they’ll get nothing. The United Auto Workers leadership—stuck with its Biden endorsement—dug deep to produce a few words expressing support, bracketed by hundreds more explaining that when all this goes wrong for its members it will somehow be Wall Street’s fault.

Arrayed against this coalition is everyone else. The White House press release touting its “historic progress” in electric cars struggled to quote any powerful players beyond the Environmental Defense Fund and Al Gore. Auto dealers—still powerful political players in many congressional districts—are actively campaigning against the rule, and more than 5,000 recently sent a letter to the White House decrying the rule as “completely unrealistic.” Manufacturers think it’s nuts. State attorneys general are gearing up to sue.

Mr. Biden has stepped crosswise with voters. Pollster Scott Rasmussen recently asked how respondents view new “regulations that would effectively outlaw the manufacture and sale of gasoline-powered cars.” Only 14% were strongly in favor. Nearly 60% were opposed. A slight majority of Democratic voters (53%) favored the idea, but 59% of independents and 76% of Republicans opposed it. Among income groups, only those earning more than $150,000 a year had majority support (51%).

The subject matter (autos) and the clarity of the ban hand Republicans a potent election weapon. The Biden administration has issued all manner of destructive environmental rules, but many center on obscure words like “ambient air quality” or “polyfluoroalkyl substances.” Cars and trucks? Americans understand those—and love them.

They understand that no Tesla is going to function in the bitter cold of a Wisconsin or Alaska winter; no Ford Lightning will manage the work of a Montana ranch or a Kansas farm. They understand a ban means the end of entire lifestyles that require reliability, distance and towing power—boating, hunting, off-roading, camping, snow-machining, horse hauling. The White House may not be able to tell a toy hauler from a travel trailer, but millions of Americans can and do—and won’t give either up without a fight.

It’s a tailor-made issue for Donald Trump, a perfect summation of his opponent’s radicalism. His campaign immediately trashed the rule as a diktat that will “force Americans to buy ultra-expensive cars they do not want and cannot afford while destroying the U.S. auto industry.” Just wait until he gets around to the bumper-sticker formula: “They’re coming for your truck.” An energy trade group has already been up with ads making that point in swing states, calling on Americans to reject Biden’s “EPA car ban.”

House Democrats have already expressed some unease over the politics. Republicans last fall brought two car-freedom bills to floor votes; they picked up eight Democratic supporters in one vote, five in the other. While not huge numbers, the defections are notable in a Democratic caucus that maintains zero tolerance for dissent. Republicans are already rushing to force Democrats to defend and protect the Biden ban specifically, with votes in both the House and Senate to kill the rule under the Congressional Review Act.

Today’s Democratic Party is entirely dedicated to the proposition that all Americans should be told how to live. Yet rarely are its leaders so baldly open with their intentions. Mr. Biden has helpfully clarified that this election will directly decide what choices—if any—Americans have going forward. That’s a powerful club to hand the opposition.

Write to kim@wsj.com.