FACT CHECK: Mills absolutely is mandating electric vehicles & plans to do more
Janet Mills said Friday that she’s not going to follow California-style electric vehicle mandates. She said: “Make electric vehicles available, rebates available — but not a mandate.”
That’s false — she’s already pursuing a California-based mandate, which will hurt Maine consumers.
As Maine Public said, “The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has proposed adopting another California regulation, known as the California Advanced Clean Trucks Rule, that would require commercial truck and van manufacturers to sell an increasing number of EVs in the state beginning with 2025 models. If adopted, manufacturers could face penalties for failing to live up to the rules.”
Mills’ Clean Transportation Roadmap (which, by the way, is the much-cited report where the Mills admin calls for a gas tax hike to fund EV expansion) shows anticipated EV adoption following the truck rules listed above. The roadmap refers to the truck rules as “The most important regulatory driver in the electrification of Maine’s light-duty vehicles in the next two decades will be through Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) standards, which have been adopted in California and are expected to be adopted in Maine in 2022.”
If this isn’t a California-based electric vehicle mandate that will directly affect Mainers, what is?
Mills shouldn’t get away with this lie.Maine GOP Executive Director Jason Savage said: “Here’s the bottom line: Janet Mills has advocated for and passed policies that made energy more expensive for Mainers. It’s election season and she’s a career politician, so she’s going to try and run away from her record of cost hikes and crazy left-wing energy policies.”
