In the latest round of fossil-fuel backed attempts to kill cleaner-running cars, Fox ran an op-ed on Tuesday by Wyoming Senator John Barrasso introducing his legislation to repeal the federal electric vehicle tax credit.
The bill, ironically called the “Fairness for Every Driver Act,” would repeal the incentive and instead slap a fee on electric cars. Barrasso cites a report by the Manhattan Institute--a group that’s received funding from the likes of Exxon and the Koch network--that claims eliminating the program could save taxpayers $20 billion.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the next day the American Petroleum Institute issued a press release in support of the legislation. Last year, API, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and Americans for Prosperity urged state regulators in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas to halt work on EVs. The oil industry is also coming after national fuel efficiency standards, which have saved American drivers over $2 trillion dollars since they were enacted prior to 2008.
As DeSmog pointed out in a post, Barrasso uses the same tired talking points being pushed by the Koch network to attack EVs. That’s probably because he’s received more money from the Kochs than almost any other senator. The wording in his op-ed is strangely reminiscent of a misleading push-poll by another Koch-backed group called the American Energy Alliance that used manipulative wording to skew respondents’ opinions on EVs.
Yes, it’s true that the Highway Trust Fund is dwindling, as Barrasso mentions, but this issue long precedes the recent growth of electric cars. The federal government has not raised the gas tax that is used to maintain our roads and bridges since 1993, and revenue from the tax has lagged behind expenditures since 2008. And while Barrasso claims that EVs are not paying their fair share, across the country states are having thoughtful policy conversations about how to do exactly that. In fact, 20 states have already placed some kind of fee on electric cars.
While the free market fanbase loves to tout that government should not meddle in markets, they forget that nearly every major technological advancement can be traced back to government support. Not to mention that while the federal government is estimated to have spent $2.2 billion between fiscal years 2011 and 2017 subsidizing EVs, it spends nearly $11 billion subsidizing the oil and gas industry every single year.
And it would probably be worth reminding Barrasso and others in his camp that one of the most valuable roles of government is to help scale technologies that will benefit the public, like electric vehicles, which protect public health by reducing harmful emissions all while putting money back into the pockets of everyday Americans. Electric cars are drastically cleaner than conventional cars, even when they’re powered by coal, and are cheaper to fuel and drive.
So the real question is: Is fairness for every driver really what Barrasso’s really driving toward, or is it just continued profits for oil companies?
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