On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) said that we should push for EVs and renewables, even though that “may not change the price of gasoline today, but it sends a strong message that we are moving away from these fossil fuels” Iran can exercise control over.
Co-host Joe Mathieu asked, “I want to ask you about an op-ed that I saw you wrote in The Chicago Tribune. The headline is, ‘The Iran gas tax is going to hit American families. But we can change the future.’ You’ve got a national average, Congressman, today, $4.10. In your state of Illinois, $4.26. You’re above the national average. And I’m wondering your thoughts, if you can expand on what you wrote here, because you believe the answer is alternative energy, beginning with solar. But, Congressman, in this Congress?”
Krishnamoorthi answered, “Well, look, I think that one of the first things that the Trump administration did is it axed something like 2-300 renewable energy projects through the DOE. Once you start doing that, you basically start to give the Iranians more leverage at the bargaining table because then their chokehold on our energy supplies, especially through the Strait of Hormuz, become[s] even more salient. And so, we’ve got to remove that leverage, Joe, we have to do everything we can to wean ourselves off that fossil fuel. So, for instance, that means embracing EV technology and it means making sure that renewable energies — whether it’s solar or wind or other types of renewables — are able to flourish here. It may not change the price of gasoline today, but it sends a strong message that we are moving away from these fossil fuels. And I think it also signals to the market a shift that would translate into some reduction in the price of oil and gasoline over time here.”
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