‘This push for net zero is only working to the detriment of the Biden administration,’ Gabriella Hoffman said.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s “disastrous” interview, in which he failed to account for the lack of progress in publicly funded electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, demonstrates the Biden administration’s myopic aim for a net zero future, according to an energy policy analyst.
Gabriella Hoffman, a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum’s Center for Energy and Conservation, told The Epoch Times that such short-sightedness is reflected in consumers’ disinterest in purchasing EV vehicles, which appear to have more unknowns than they’re worth.
“This push for net zero is only working to the detriment of the Biden administration and showcasing that their policies and government involvement in this space is causing a lot of problems,” Ms. Hoffman said.
President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging, $5 billion of which to go toward the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which oversees the construction of 500,000 charging stations along major highways by 2030.
“This is a major step toward a world where every EV user will be able to find safe, reliable charging stations anywhere in the country,” Mr. Buttigieg said in a 2023 press release. “We’re establishing common, universal standards for EV charging stations just like the ones for gas stations so that recharging an EV away from home will be as predictable and accessible as filling up a gas tank.”
“Donald Trump repeatedly talks about President Biden’s decision to force the industry towards making 56 percent of car batteries electric by 2032, 13 percent hybrid,” she said, before playing a recording of President Trump lambasting the Biden administration for “spending hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing a car that nobody wants and nobody’s ever gonna buy.”
“He’s not wrong,” Ms. Brennan said, to which Mr. Buttigieg responded, “Oh, he’s wrong.”
“Every single year, more Americans buy EVs than the year prior,” he said. “There are two things that I think are needed for that to happen even more quickly. One is the price, which is why the Inflation Reduction Act acted to cut the price of an electric vehicle. The second is making sure we have the charging network we need across America.”
The Federal Highway Administration has said it has only produced seven to eight charging stations since the $7.5 billion taxpayer investment, she said.
“Why isn’t this happening more quickly,” she asked.
Mr. Buttigieg listed the behind-the-scenes efforts to construct a charging station to illustrate that there’s “more than just plunking a small device into the ground,” however, Ms. Brennan expressed skepticism.
“Seven or eight, though?” she asked, to which he argued that those stations are the “absolute very, very beginning stages of the construction to come.”
He added that the private sector has built most of the charging stations.
“The reason that we’re investing federal dollars is to fill in some of the gaps in areas where it is not yet profitable for the private sector to do it,” he said.
EV Sales Decline
Ms. Hoffman said there are already 183,000 private sector charges across the United States.
“But the Biden administration seems to think that the presence of more charging stations, especially those that are publicly funded, are going to propel people to buy EVs,” she said. “Even with the existing availability of EV chargers, you don’t see people buying them in droves.”
“There are poor market returns from investing in EVs,” she said. “There’s too many different factors that portend bad news for EVs here in the U.S.”
It’s to be expected, she said, when the government interferes in what might have been a slower, more sustainable rollout.
“This is a failure, and it confirms a lot of our doubts that this type of alternative will never be ready for prime time, and mass adoption is very questionable,” she said.
‘Unattainable Goal’
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final emission rule for vehicles built after 2027.
“The final rule builds upon EPA’s final standards for federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026 and leverages advances in clean car technology to unlock benefits to Americans ranging from improving public health through reducing smog- and soot-forming pollution from vehicles, to reducing climate pollution, to saving drivers money through reduced fuel and maintenance costs,” the EPA said in a March press release. “These standards will phase in over model years 2027 through 2032.”
According to Ms. Hoffman, the final rule “aggressively” mandates that 67 percent of new vehicles sold by 2032 must be electric.
“They initially wanted the date to be by 2035, 67 percent of new cars on the market would be needed,” she said. “They have now tempered down their expectations. Now they say they want 56 percent of new models to be fully electric by 2032, so they’re still charging forward with net zero but with less of a percentage.”
The Biden administration has claimed it’s not a mandate, she said.
“But when you’re dictating to manufacturers, they have to comply with these emission standards,” she said, adding that this will ultimately impact the consumer.
“They will have fewer choices available with the manufacturers having to produce fewer gas-powered cars to meet these so-called unreasonable expectations,” she said. “It’s an unattainable goal.”
The Epoch Times contacted Secretary Buttigieg’s office at the U.S. Department of Transporation for comment.
