Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim that she “will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive” is the climate-policy equivalent of President Barack Obama’s famous lie about the Affordable Care Act: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”
But while Obama at least managed to get a law passed, the Biden-Harris administration has tried to transform the automotive industry without even persuading Congress.
To be sure, while serving in the U.S. Senate in 2019, Harris enthusiastically cosponsored legislation mandating that all new car sales be electric by 2040. But as vice president, she has given up on lawmaking and opted instead to pursue a “whole-of-government” effort that relies on a series of interlocking agency rulemakings.
The Environmental Protection Agency and Harris’ home state of California are at the heart of this effort. For…
