In 2022, the California Air Resources Board approved a “world-leading roadmap to address climate change” that will require 100% of cars and trucks sold in the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2040.

The Advance Clean Cars II rule, the most aggressive push to EVs in the country, stemmed from an “unprecedented climate action plan” that was years in the making, funded in large part by a $1.18 billion emissions settlement with Volkswagen negotiated by Kamala Harris during her tenure as California Attorney General.

California’s leading role in what has evolved into a national transition to EVs led by the Biden-Harris administration, and Harris’ status as a key player in that effort, has become a focus factor in the 2024 presidential race.

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Amid mounting criticism over the wildly unpopular government-imposed shift to EVs from Republican former President Donald Trump, Harris’ campaign made clear on Tuesday the Democrat “does not support an electric vehicle mandate.”

“Donald Trump railed against the Inflation Reduction Act while the Biden-Harris administration oversaw the creation of tens of thousands of new, clean energy jobs in Michigan and provided ground-breaking subsidies and tax credits for electric vehicles,” said Ammar Moussa, the Harris campaign’s rapid response director.

While Harris is now — through anonymous staffers — distancing herself from the Biden administration’s EV policies, folks who worked alongside her as attorney general are highlighting her integral role in laying the groundwork to make them happen.

“She was active in promoting the idea that we should get both a buyback of the cars that were that involved in the (VW emissions) cheating … and that (Volkswagen) should be required to put up a fund to help with bringing in zero-emission vehicles,” CARB chairwoman Mary Nichols told The Detroit News.

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“She hung tough in those negotiations, and my recollection is that there were earlier proposals that weren’t as damaging to VW,” David Pettit, climate attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said. “And she said, ‘No, we’re not doing that.’ She hung tough and got a really good deal.”

“She was an AG who supported CARB, which was one of her clients, and the process went as it was supposed to,” Bill Magavern, policy director for California’s Coalition for Clean Air, told the news site.

Aside from a $2 billion total investment in zero-emissions technology, the Harris-negotiated VW settlement also forced the company to buy back hundreds of thousands of vehicles equipped with “defeat devices” that allowed them to circumvent the state’s strict emissions standards.

As part of California’s settlement, VW was forced to pay $380 million over three years to the state “for projects to replace older and dirtier heavy duty diesel vehicles and equipment with advanced zero- or near-zero technologies,” according to a 2016 press release.

California spent a total of $800 million of the nationwide $2 billion settlement on EVs.

“This landmark agreement not only ensures that consumers who were deceived are fairly compensated, but also requires Volkswagen to make unprecedented investments in protecting our environment and advancing zero emission technology,” AG Harris said at the time.

The VP, who never criticized CARB’s plans, has been pushing for a national ban on gas cars ever since.

Harris’ EV advocacy accelerated after she was elected senator in 2019, when she co-sponsored the Zero Emissions Vehicles Act to institute a “national zero-emission vehicle standard” that would have required half of new vehicles sold to be EVs by 2030, and all by 2040.

“After model year 2040, the EPA Administrator may issue an injunction on the manufacture of any passenger vehicles other than zero emission vehicles by a vehicle manufacturer,” the legislation read.

Harris then upped the ante during her short-lived campaign for president in 2020, with her campaign website pushing to ban all new internal combustion vehicles by 2035, the New York Post reports.

Those efforts, continued as VP, eventually evolved into to emissions standards from the Biden-Harris administration that are expected to lead to 56% of car sales being electric, and 13% hybrid, by 2032, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

“Kamala Harris’ radical energy policies such as her EV mandate and the Green New Scam will hurt American workers, help China, and do virtually nothing to help the environment,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the news site.

“President Trump advanced conservation and environmental stewardship while promoting economic growth for families across the country,” Leavitt said. “America’s energy agenda under President Trump produced affordable, reliable energy for consumers along with stable, high-paying jobs for small businesses—all while dropping U.S. carbon emissions to their lowest level in 25 years.”

While Harris’ true position on EVs remains unclear, as she hasn’t openly discussed them with the media or articulated any policies on her campaign website, Trump has remained consistent in his focus on preserving choice for consumers, many of whom can’t afford more expensive EVs.

“The electric vehicle mandate, which is absolutely so crazy, will be gone, and there will be no costly forced transition to all-electric cars and trucks,” Trump said at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania last week.

“If you want a gasoline-propelled car, or a hybrid, or an electric car, they’re wonderful, too. But not all. People need to go longer distances. They want to pay less money. This is fantastic. Electric is fantastic. Everything is great. You have to be able to buy everything.”

In addition to preserving choice, Trump plans to increase tariffs on Chinese imports to protect the jobs of autoworkers, which has gained him the support of 88%, he said.

“Every auto worker here will be out of a job within three years if I’m not elected. Every auto worker in this state,” Trump said during a stop in Howell last week. “They’re all going to be made in China.”

Americans in swing states seem to agree with Trump’s approach, with a recent poll from Remington Research Group showing 59% oppose bans on gas-powered cars.

“This new polling underscores what we have been hearing from the American people of all political stripes for months—that they do not want the government banning gas cars, mandating electric vehicles or imposing regulations that restrict access to the types of cars that best meet a family’s needs and budget,” American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Chet Thompson said.