As Americans battle soaring gasoline and natural gas prices alongside skyrocketing heating bills, President Joe Biden wants nobody to worry because on Wednesday he will unveil his vision for a green electric future.
All it requires is billions of taxpayer dollars to fund electric vehicle (EV) chargers across the country alongside zero-emissions electric cars and trucks of every size imaginable. In 10-15 years time. Perhaps.
Biden will visit a General Motors plant in Detroit that manufactures electric vehicles to outline his grand Build Back Better green plan to get drivers out of gasoline-powered cars, AP reports.
He’ll use the occasion to promise the $7.5 billion in the new infrastructure law for electric vehicle chargers will help America get “off the sidelines” on green-energy manufacturing, repeating a pledge to go electric he made in 2020 during the presidential campaign.
Currently, the U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle sales is one-third the size of the Chinese EV market.
The president will deliver remarks on how the law “builds electric vehicle charging stations across the country to make it easier to drive an electric vehicle, reduces emissions to fight the climate crisis, and creates good-paying, union jobs across the country,” the White House said in a statement.
“It’s a big deal,” Biden declared as he signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law on Monday, even as some states actively discourage drivers from tapping into the electricity grid.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has stressed the administration is looking at “every tool in our arsenal” to combat high gasoline prices, saying Biden and his economic team are “quite focused” on the issue, AP outlines.
Psaki said the administration has asked the Federal Trade Commission “to crack down on illegal pricing” and is engaging with countries and entities abroad like OPEC on increasing supply.
Biden’s visit to Detroit will not be the first time he has espoused the benefits of electric cars for all.
As Breitbart News reported, in August he announced a target date of 2030 for all new car sales in the U.S. to meet zero emission standards. Biden said he intends to beef up fuel consumption and emission regulations by bringing in punitive measures to ensure the new standards are met.
U.S. President Joe Biden drives the new electric Ford F-150 Lightning at the Ford Dearborn Development Center in Dearborn, Michigan on May 18, 2021. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Conservative lawmakers have historically objected to the higher price of electric transport and called for the free market to dictate the future of cars as opposed to executive orders.
The least-expensive new electric car in 2021 is the $29,900 Mini Electric Hardtop, according to US News & World Report, which detailed the price before state and federal tax credits.
The 2021 Chevrolet Spark, by contrast, is the least-expensive new car overall and starts at $13,400, US News reports.
The International Council on Clean Transportation says the U.S. will need 2.4 million charging stations by 2030 alone if 36 percent of new vehicle sales are electric. Currently there are about 45,500 charging stations nationwide with just 112,000 plugs, AP reports.