Biden's EPA has announced some pretty far reaching climate rules that are meant to
dramatically change the way Americans travel and commute over the next decade.
Which sounds like a great idea if you're concerned about the climate emergency
which is very real and we absolutely should respond to it appropriately.
For instance, the EPA under Biden's administration want two thirds
of all passenger cars sold in the United States to be electric by the year 2032.
What a lofty goal.
Now, we're a long way from that.
Less than 6% of new cars sold last year happen to be electric vehicles.
And there are some cost concerns especially since the financial burden
would be placed squarely on the ordinary American consumer in the middle of
a rigged economy that they're already struggling with.
And I have huge issues with that.
As Axios reports, if Biden's plan goes through,
consumers in nine years would find fewer gasoline options and be compelled.
Compelled meaning forced to buy vehicles that currently are more expensive and
have less driving range than traditional cars.
Now, look, I have issues with the driving range associated with electric vehicles as
well but let's put that aside.
You can deal with that.
What about the financial burden?
I have no issue with transitioning to vehicles that are better for
the environment.
I have no problem making changes that are better for our planet.
I do have a problem though with the government forcing you to do something and
not providing the adequate financial assistance to make it possible.
And that is the issue that I'm starting to run into more and
more with the Democratic Party.
So electric cars currently are dependent on Chinese manufacturers,
I bring that up for good reason.
Because since a lot of this technology is dependent on Chinese manufacturers and
tech companies for parts and batteries.
The financial assistance that has been offered up by the Democratic Party is
actually not that great.
Because it is reliant on you purchasing vehicles that
are manufactured in the United States with American parts.
And by the way, there also aren't enough charging stations or
the infrastructure necessary to support the electric vehicles.
So other infrastructural issues were highlighted by the governor of California,
Gavin Newsom as California was dealing with a pretty crippling heat wave last
summer.
Now, that heat wave placed a heavy burden on the state's energy grid.
And here is exactly what Gavin Newsom said to Californians just a few
weeks after Gavin Newsom said that he was going to push
through a transition to electric vehicles.
Let's watch.
>> A heat wave is descending on California prompting state officials to ask
electric vehicle owners to refrain from charging their cars in hopes of
avoiding power outages.
But putting out this call just a week after unveiling plans to ban
the sale of new gas powered vehicles by the year 2035.
>> Residents are being asked to conserve energy and
that includes not charging their cars from 4 to 9PM,
a time where demand is high but resources from solar power is low.
The irony is that California is at the forefront of the push for
electric vehicles.
A week ago the state passed a bill requiring 35% of new
vehicles to produce zero emissions by 2026 increasing
to 68% by 2030 and then 100% by 2035.
>> 2035 is not that far away.
So the idea that we're going to basically phase out the sale of gas
powered vehicles entirely and just rely on electric vehicles that
would place a heavy burden on our electric grid, it's just all insane.
Does anyone genuinely think that California is gonna upgrade its electric
grid to the point that it can actually accommodate all these electric vehicles?
Especially during a heat wave when there's a heavy burden on the electric grid.
This is what politicians do.
They say whatever they think will appeal to you.
They'll even push through policies that they think will appeal to you.
They'll pander like crazy but they don't actually think through the costs
associated, the infrastructure necessary.
It's infuriating.
Now I get it, some of the Biden stands out there.
Some of the Democrat stands out there might respond to this by saying, well,
Biden and the Democrats passed two bills that appropriate some funding for
these issues.
Did they?
Okay, let's get to that actually.
So for instance, there was the Inflation Reduction Act which didn't deal with
inflation at all but that's beside the point.
And then there was of course the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
And to be fair, those two bills did appropriate some funding for
climate related issues but what does that mean?
Well, spending $5 billion for 500,000 highway chargers and
2.5 billion for community chargers.
Okay, so there's some money there, 5 billion for the charging stations.
Setting price limits and
income restrictions on EV tax credits to steer benefits toward mass-market buyers.
That was a euphemism for there going to means test the financial
assistance that's gonna be offered up to people so
they make this super costly transition to electric vehicles, okay.
The means testing frustrates me because we know how means testing works, okay?
They will have the threshold be so incredibly low that a lot of people aren't
gonna qualify even as they're being compelled to buy electric vehicles.
With that said, there's more I wanna get to here that's incredibly frustrating.
Remember I was talking a little bit about the manufacturing of these cars and
the financial assistance only applying to electric vehicles that
are made in the United States with American parts.
It's gonna be an issue, okay?
Now, other areas of financial assistance in the two bills
that I mentioned included tax credits for used EV buyers.
Lucrative tax credits for companies, this is important, for
companies that build electric vehicles and
batteries in the United States which could trickle down to consumers.
Trickle down to consumers, where have I heard trickle down before?
And why do I have such a bad reaction to that phrase.
It's like a repellent.
It disgusts me because nothing ever trickles down to ordinary consumers, okay?
Tax credits for
companies means tax credits increase their profits through our money.
That's what tax credits mean.
But let's talk a little bit about some of the financial assistance to ordinary
Americans.
Because ordinary Americans under these bills would also get a little bit of
financial assistance directly in the form of tax credits of course.
New Biden administration rules first announced March 31st
will sharply winnow the number of vehicles now eligible for the $7,500 tax credit.
Okay, so the tax credit alone is not enough especially
when you look at the costs of electric vehicles, okay?
But a lot of the electric vehicles available on the market today
absolutely would not qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit.
So let's get to some of the specifics here.
If you look at this graph,
it actually lists which cars are getting electric vehicle tax breaks.
It's really important for
you to of course see the amount of the tax credit which is $7,500 in some cases.
It goes down to $3,750 if the vehicle has parts that were
manufactured in other countries like China.
But if you notice an asterisk next to any of the vehicles on this list,
it's because the vehicles aren't even on the market yet.
But the plug in hybrid by Lincoln for instance,
the lowest MSRP for that car is $70,190.
And if you're lucky, you'll get a $7,500 tax
break tax credit if you buy that car, come on.
The next one is a Jeep Grand Cherokee which doesn't qualify for
the full tax credit but costs $60,360.
You've got the full electric Ford F-150 which a family member of mine just
bought and it's very nice but it's also very expensive nearly $60,000.
The list goes on and on.
And [LAUGH] under the new treasury list,
seven models will be eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit.
And six will qualify for $3,750 which is half of the tax
credit depending on whether their battery minerals,
their battery components or both meet the domestic content rules.
And again, anything with an asterisk that you saw on that list indicates
cars that aren't even on the market yet.
So the Blazer EV from Chevy, not on the market yet.
Equinox EV one of the cheaper cars at just $30,000, not on the market yet.
You get the point.
If you want a Chevy Bolt, lowest MSRP for that is $26,500
that qualifies for the full $7,500 tax credit.
But also if the tax credit only applies to vehicles that
are manufactured in the United States with parts and
minerals from the United States.
Doesn't that decrease competition with other electric vehicle producers?
Couldn't the American made manufacturers jack up their prices even more?
If you wanna take advantage of that tax credit which again I don't think
is enough.
Look, maybe I'm going on and on here, maybe I'm blabbering too much.
But do you guys get the point here?
My point is not that I'm against transitioning to electric vehicles.
My issue is that in case after case, climate policy after climate policy,
ordinary Americans are told to do things and if they can't afford it,
they're told to kick rocks.
And I'm sick of it, I really am.
Okay, we've got a broken health care system, unaffordable housing, a rigged
economic system that redistributes wealth from the bottom to the top.
And then on top of that, we get to hear from our local and
federal lawmakers that we are compelled to move
to electric vehicles with little help, little financial help.
I have a problem with that.
For anyone on the left who thinks that being critical of this issue makes
me right wing.
Please for the love of God read a book, go outside touch grass, okay?
You have a very simplistic mind and you don't know how to think in a nuanced way.
If you think it's okay to force ordinary Americans who are already struggling to
make these transitions with little financial help from our federal
government.
Which by the way has no problem shelling out hundreds of
billions of dollars every year for the Defense Department.
I don't know, I just feel like you're not really thinking this through.
And you're also not thinking through how deeply unpopular it is to be part of
a political movement that on one hand lightly takes climate change seriously.
But on the other hand has this incredibly callous approach of asking everyone in
the country whether they're struggling financially or not,
to take on the burdens and to stop complaining about it.
And all the fossil fuel companies that privatize the gains and
socialize the losses, where are they at?
How about an extra tax on them to help fund increased tax credits for
Americans who are looking to buy electric vehicles?
But there's no conversation about that because God forbid,
God forbid we hold the very fossil fuel companies that created the climate
emergency in the first place accountable for their actions.
God forbid we cut into their profits just a little bit.
So yeah, I'm a little heated about this,
super heated about this cuz this ain't enough help.
This is a massive financial burden for ordinary Americans and
anyone who thinks otherwise is in for
a day of reckoning at some point when we have elections.
I don't know if it's gonna be the next election cycle.
I don't know if it's gonna be election cycle after that.
But if Democrats think that they can push these policies on ordinary people
without providing adequate financial aid, they'd be mistaken.
It is going to hurt them.
Now, just two EVs now on the market will be available for
less than $25,000 after the tax credit is deducted.
The Chevy Bolt whose cost could fall to 19,000,
just $19,000 guys thanks to the tax break.
And a utility vehicle version of the Bolt which could drop to $20,300.
That's assuming buyers can actually find the vehicles at that price in today's
post-pandemic seller's market.
And look, I get that we are drowning in consumer debt in this country and
debt has been so normalized in our highly financialized economy.
I'm not in favor of taking on debt.
I have a car, it's an older car, it's a little car.
It's a Chevy, no, I'm sorry, it's a Honda Civic.
And you know why I have a Honda Civic from years and years ago?
Because I don't want car debt.
I don't want a car payment.
I don't want to be a slave to debt for the rest of my life.
But transitioning to an electric vehicle would require me to take on debt.
$20,000 is not a small amount of money.
These are issues that I wish the Democratic Party actually gave a damn
about and actually thought through.
Instead of just spouting out nonsense about like, by 2035 we're gonna
phase out all gas powered cars or two thirds of all cars will be electric.
Will they?
How about the other side of that?
How about thinking about the cost associated with that for ordinary people?
God forbid they ever think about that.