Youngkin, Miyares strike back at California electric vehicle mandate

(The Center Square) – As of next year, Virginia will no longer follow California’s electric vehicle mandates, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced Wednesday.

“Once again, Virginia is declaring independence – this time from a misguided electric vehicle mandate imposed by unelected leaders nearly 3,000 miles away from the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Though Youngkin has fought green energy mandates established by the prior administration – most notably, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – the announcement comes as a surprise, as it was believed that this decision was in the hands of the General Assembly.

Youngkin encouraged state lawmakers at the start of this year’s legislative session to repeal the 2021 law tying Virginia’s vehicle emissions policies to California’s, but the bill never made it out of committee due to the Assembly’s Democratic majority.

But commonwealth Attorney General Jason Miyares has issued what is sure to be a highly contested official opinion “confirm[ing] that Virginia is not required to comply with expansive new mandates adopted by the unelected California Air Resources Board (CARB) set to take effect January 1, 2025.”