40th Annual Jefferson B. Fordham Debate

Electric Vehicles: Should Utah Follow California’s Lead?

TALK DESCRIPTION:

In Ohio v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to grant California a waiver to set its own electric vehicle requirements under the Clean Air Act. California mandates that 35% of the new cars sold in state be plug-in hybrid electric, electric, or hydrogen fuel cell by 2026, which increases to 100% by 2035. Many western states, including Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, have adopted California’s standards.

Proponents of California’s electric vehicle rule argue that such laws are a constitutionally permitted way to improve air quality and respond to the climate crisis. Opponents have contended that the EPA violates a constitutional requirement that the federal government treat states equally in terms of their sovereign authority. Focusing on electric vehicles, other opponents have argued, is also not the best way to tackle pollution and climate change, given the unaffordability and detrimental public health impacts of cars.

The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law will host a debate to consider the consequences of Utah mandating electric vehicles to federalism, environmental quality, and social justice.

ABOUT THE DEBATERS:

Sanya Carley
Sanya Carley is Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design, as well as faculty director of the university’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. She holds secondary appointments at the Wharton School and the School of Social Policy and Practice, and she co-directs the Energy Justice Lab. Carley’s research focuses on energy justice and just transitions, energy insecurity, electricity and transportation markets, and public perceptions of energy infrastructure and technologies. With the Energy Justice Lab team, she built and maintains the Utility Disconnection Dashboard. Carley is an author of the Fifth National Climate Assessment report and a member of the Innovation Policy Forum and the Roundtable on Macroeconomics and Climate-related Risks and Opportunities, both at the National Academies.

Mario Loyola
Mario Loyola is a research assistant professor at the Florida International University College of Law. He serves as director of the college’s Environment, Law & Economics Initiative, and as director of the Environmental Finance and Risk Management program at FIU’s Institute of Environment. He is also a senior research fellow in environmental policy and regulation at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. Loyola served in two presidential administrations, first as a special assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the George W. Bush administration, and later as a member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality in the Trump administration. A prolific writer, Loyola is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and The Atlantic, among others.

The Fordham Debate is named in honor of Professor Jefferson B. Fordham, an outstanding legal scholar and defender of individual and civil rights who joined the University of Utah College of Law faculty in 1972. The annual debate addresses relevant contemporary public policy and legal issues.

For questions about this event email events@law.utah.edu.

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The S.J. Quinney College of Law is pleased to provide free CLE opportunities for attorneys. All donations welcome to support our programs.

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