New EPA Auto Emissions Rules: ‘Crackdown’ or ‘Scaling Back’?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced finalized tailpipe emissions requirements on Wednesday, backing off from a stricter previous proposal.

The Details: Generally, the previous EPA proposal would have required automakers to reduce emissions by over two-thirds by 2032; the finalized rules require a 50% reduction by the same point. Still, the rules represent the strongest-ever emissions limits for new cars in the U.S. Many framed the change as a concession to labor unions and automakers, who generally opposed the Biden administration’s plan for a rapid transition to electric vehicles. 

How the Media Covered It: Coverage sometimes aligned with partisan attitudes about climate change, electric vehicles, and government intervention; thus, the aggressiveness of the rules could be framed positively or negatively, depending on context. 

Different Framings: Headlines varied widely across the spectrum in framing the rules as uncommonly strict or more lenient than expected. On the right, Fox News (Right bias) called them a “crackdown on gas cars,” and The Daily Caller (Right bias) called them “stringent.” On the left, the Washington Post (Lean Left bias) called them Biden’s “biggest climate move yet,” and NPR (Lean Left bias) called them “strict new limits.” However, The Verge (Lean Left bias) highlighted that the rules were “preferred by automakers and labor unions,” and the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) highlighted that the “Biden administration scale[d] back electric vehicle targets.”