Making America Great Again

Created
Tue, 25/07/2023 - 05:30
Updated
Tue, 25/07/2023 - 05:30
If Trump wins the WH again, get ready to go backwards Axios reports: A reelected Donald Trump could pull several levers to try and pare back federal policies aimed at speeding the transition to electric vehicles. Why it matters: EVs are becoming more mainstream, but they’re still a small share of U.S. car sales, and President Joe Biden has been keen to juice deployment. Catch up fast: Trump, the GOP frontrunner, released a video late last week that, among other things, bashed EV costs. He vowed to reverse what he called a “ridiculous Green New Deal crusade.” Trump’s seeking auto workers’ votes in competitive states like Michigan, at a time when the United Auto Workers leadership is skittish about EVs. The big picture: It’s hard to see the votes for outright repealing the Democrats’ climate law or the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, even if Republicans have both chambers of Congress after 2024. Yes, but: Trump would hardly be powerless. Zoom in: His campaign released a list of proposals alongside the video. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but let’s explore some of those and other ways he could alter policy. Trump’s vowing to kill the EPA’s brewing tailpipe CO2 emissions rules. The agency sees bringing EVs to 67% of U.S. light-duty sales by 2032. Reversing a completed rule is time-consuming and legally fraught. One wrinkle: if the final rule was still tied up in court when Trump took office, his administration could decline to defend it. A Trump-led Treasury Department could take a more restrictive view of how many EV models qualify for consumer purchase…