Trump Targets Biden Administration’s EV Agenda at RNC
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
A rollback of policies that Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump believes unfairly target fossil fuel-powered vehicles would be among the central priorities he would tackle if re-elected this fall.
During his keynote address at the Republican National Convention, Trump pledged to dismantle elements of the Biden administration’s energy and environment portfolio. Referring to progressive Democrats’ “Green New Deal” policy blueprint as the “Green New Scam,” Trump told supporters that rules and guidance believed to be hindering traditionally powered vehicles would be halted during his first day back in office. During the next session of Congress, scheduled to begin in January, transportation policymakers intend to craft multiyear highway policy legislation.
“We will end the ridiculous and actually incredible waste of taxpayer dollars that is fueling the inflation crisis. They’ve spent trillions of dollars of things having to do with the ‘Green New Scam.’ It’s a scam. And that has caused tremendous inflationary pressures in addition to the cost of energy,” Trump said July 18, emphasizing a GOP energy agenda anchored on boosting fossil fuel production.
“And all of the trillions of dollars that are sitting there not yet spent, we will redirect that money for important projects like roads, bridges [and] dams, and we will not allow it to be spent on the meaningless ‘Green New Scam’ ideas. And I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one. Thereby saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration.”
Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill and various freight stakeholders have been seeking to halt recent Biden administration initiatives associated with electric vehicles and emerging technologies.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Commerce Committee’s ranking member, is a staunch supporter of Trump’s re-election efforts. He has joined fellow congressional Republicans in criticizing the current administration’s EV agenda.
ChargePoint EV charging stations along U.S. Route 50 in Lamar, Colo. The buildout of EV infrastructure is a priority of the Biden administration and other Democrats, who have said stations aren't being built fast enough. (Rachel Ellis/Bloomberg News)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also is on the front lines pushing back on programs meant to compel businesses and motorists to transition away from vehicles powered by fossil fuels. Barrasso is the lead sponsor of the Recalculating Electric Vehicle Efficiency for Accuracy and Legitimacy, or REVEAL, Act, which questions the Energy Department’s calculation related to petroleum-equivalent average fuel economy specific to EVs.
Barrasso
“The REVEAL Act would prevent the secretary of energy from using these faulty calculations to prohibit the sale of gas- or diesel-powered cars or trucks,” Barrasso said last month. “This is a needed step to help fight against the Biden administration’s continued manipulation of the auto market and put Americans back in the driver’s seat.”
“If this administration wants to erode consumer choice and force EVs on the people of Wyoming, then the Department of Energy needs to hold these vehicles to the same standards as their gas-powered counterparts,” added Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), a co-lead sponsor.
More than 100 congressional Republicans recently joined Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Reps. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) and John James (R-Mich.) in seeking approval of a procedural measure known as a Congressional Review Act. These resolutions would pause new federal emissions rules for passenger and heavy-duty vehicles.
Capito
Relatedly, as part of her oversight assignment, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) released a report specific to the White House’s Inflation Reduction Act. This “Investment in Radical Activists: A Case Study on the NDN Collective Supported by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act” identified anti-American statements from the South Dakota-based indigenous communities advocacy group.
“In our oversight of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, we’ve found over and over again that the law is quietly bankrolling extremist groups like the NDN Collective that openly advocate for anti-American, anti-police and antisemitic causes, which have nothing to do with protecting the environment,” Capito, ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said July 23. “The American people deserve to know the truth about how the Biden administration is spending their money, and we will continue to follow where that money goes, exposing the indefensible positions held by the groups that are benefiting along the way.”
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing above or go here for more info
EPW Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) pledged to consider scheduling a committee hearing following the growing concerns related to EVs. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump and senior Republicans are targeting, is Biden’s landmark law designed to respond to the effects of climate change. The White House also has been implementing 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2 trillion law that is funding EV programs.
As part of this bipartisan infrastructure law, $5 billion was dedicated for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program to deploy EV infrastructure nationwide.
