In late July, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced new fuel efficiency standards which acting administrator Ann Carlson claimed would “reduce harmful emissions.”
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Carlson has a long history of calling for the government to force Americans to change their lifestyles for the climate.
In 2007, Carlson published a column arguing that Americans will not voluntarily take steps to reduce their energy consumption and that the federal government must “induce behavioral change” by imposing policies to make “bad behavior more expensive.”
In a 2009 blog post, Carlson argued that Americans must be saved from themselves by being compelled to consume less energy and “live more simply.” She said while most Americans would “benefit from a simpler life,” they refuse to dramatically change their behavior unless they are forced to do so by the government.
In 2014, Carlson criticized Americans’ using air conditioners during heat waves due to what she claimed was the amount of “greenhouse gases” air conditioners pump into the atmosphere.
While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is typically concerned only with traffic safety, Carlson reportedly told her colleagues at UCLA that she believed Biden chose her to push the administration’s “whole of government” approach to climate change.
Though Carlson has served as acting administrator since September 2022, the White House was forced to withdraw her nomination to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May after Republicans criticized her as an environmental activist with no experience in traffic safety.
The proposed CAFÉ and HDPUV standards announced in late July are designed to force automobile manufacturers to ensure that two-thirds of all vehicles produced are electric by 2032.
In April, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed limits on tailpipe emissions designed to force auto manufacturers to produce more electric vehicles.
