Listen up, Jack, there’s no way Joe Biden is going to be complicit in any kind of malarkey like a federal gasoline car ban. But thanks to a new campaign of outright lies from the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group, voters in swing states are hearing the opposite. A new multi-million dollar ad buy from the group urges viewers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, Montana, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas to “stop the Biden car ban.” No such ban exists, nor is even in the conversation during Biden’s admittedly-lackluster reelection campaign.
The ad, linked below, alleges that “President Biden is banning most new gas cars, putting our freedom to choose what to drive in the rearview mirror.” The current EPA regulations do enact a more ambitious emissions standards earlier this year, however the rules do not ban the purchase or ownership of any gasoline cars, and the regulations give automakers a transition period lasting until 2032. The Biden Administration has largely pushed incentivizing a move to electric vehicles rather than banning or even de-incentivizing gasoline-powered cars.
It is important to note that the state of California has enacted a mandate for 2035 that requires all new cars sold to be zero-emissions capable (which includes gasoline-powered plug-in hybrids), and twelve further states have agreed to follow the more-strict California emissions regulations. It is also important to note that none of the states targeted by this ad campaign are part of the agreement.
AFPM, which includes ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Phillips 66, claims the ads aren’t advocating for any particular presidential candidate, though the ad campaign closely echoes the sentiments of Donald Trump’s recent campaign screeds.
Trump claimed in Green Bay, Wisc. that “…the day after the election it all stops because he wants everybody to have electric cars, which the whole thing is ridiculous.” He told Michigan voters they’re “going to be screwed” by Biden’s alleged gas ban. The presumptive GOP nominee said in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that if Democrats win in November “you will never see oil again.”
Projections indicate around ten percent of new car sales in the U.S. will be electric or plug-in for 2024, and none of those purchases are driven by any kind of gasoline ban, because no such thing exists or is even on the books at the federal level. The United Auto Workers union, supporters of an equitable transition to electric vehicle production, have called the ads “fear-mongering.” Just last week the Biden administration announced over $1 billion in grants to help auto manufacturing plants transition to production of electric cars.
The Biden administration clearly prefers to use a reinforcement and incentive program to influence American car buyers instead of punishment or bans.