SAN FRANCISCO: The United States is set to introduce the toughest-ever pollution limits to automakers, adding momentum into the slow-moving shift toward electric vehicles (EVs).

The Biden administration is preparing to roll out new limits on auto emissions from the nation’s cars and light trucks.

The Environmental Protection Agency projected that electric models would need to make up roughly two-thirds of car and light truck sales in 2032 to meet the proposed mandates – up from less than a tenth last year.

The move would put the United States on track to meet its Paris Agreement commitment to at least halve the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. US carmakers have warned the initial proposal wasn’t achievable.

The news comes days after Hertz said it’s replacing its chief executive officer after a disastrous bet on EVs that the company began unwinding in recent months.

President Joe Biden raised more than US$53mil for his reelection campaign and the Democratic Party in February, a record amount for the month.

The president and his party ended February with US$155mil on hand, the most ever amassed for a Democrat at this point in the calendar, the campaign said. His Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, has yet to report February numbers.

Biden is regularly promoting signs of a strengthening economy and easing inflation, but when it comes to the indicator closest to home, it’s a tough sell.

The surge in grocery prices since just before the Covid lockdown has been stunning: up more than 25%, a full fve percentage points more than consumer prices overall.

With the Federal Reserve prepared to meet this week and reveal their thinking about the path for interest rates, traders are looking to a key corner of the stock market for clues: shares of companies that make the stuff Americans buy. — Bloomberg