On Tuesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) stated that Ford pulling back on electric vehicles doesn’t mean we should rethink the EV push, in fact, “just the opposite.”
Host Blake Burman asked, “There was this push, EV, EV, EV, EV, for more than a decade, a lot of it from Democrats and green energy-aligned folks. Is it time to rethink this, given what we just heard from Ford saying, well, wait a minute, we’ve got to pivot now?”
Stanton answered, “No, just the opposite. First off, Elon Musk is no Democrat. And support for EV was really across the board. And Congress voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the largest investment in green and clean energy, including supporting the EV industry, in American history. And Trump comes on board, and, for political reasons, I guess, decides to move us in the opposite direction. We are in a battle with China on so many key [industries], including the EV industry, and by eliminating the programs on the Inflation Reduction Act, it’s resulted in things like Ford losing these jobs, because, remember, when they make this decision, they’re choosing to lose $20 billion, including new factories, to support the EV industry.”
Burman then asked, “I just heard Jim Farley, the head of Ford, say customers have spoken, and we listen to the customers. I’m looking at 74,000 new units sold last month. Of course, we know the government subsidies ended at the end of September, that led to a 49% decrease in sales month over month, 30% decrease from over the past year. Isn’t the customer speaking here?”
Stanton responded, “Somewhat. But, as you know, we had made a decision in Congress to support this industry, through tax credits, to make the price of EV vehicles a little more affordable, and EV sales were going through the roof. They were going very, very well. And, now, with Trump in there, it’s gone back and forth, back and forth. It’s chaos in the industry. So, probably, they got exasperated and said no to that. Look, we need to support green and clean energy, including the electric vehicle industry. This is important for the United States to be a leader in this. We can’t unilaterally disarm, if you will, let China control this marketplace across the globe. And we need all of our major players. Now, we can’t — Ford can make the business decision. I’m a capitalist, they can make whatever business decision. We had made a policy decision to support the industry, and that was taken away by the Trump administration.”
Stanton added that there needs to be investment in EV chargers so people can feel confident buying and driving EVs.
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