This month marks a pinch point and reality check for the massive $2 trillion infrastructure plan that President Biden proposed earlier in the year—especially as he’s said a higher gas tax is off the table.
“The planet cannot survive another successful Republican obstructionist strategy on climate action,” stated Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey earlier this month, with a group of at least eight Senators emerging to say that they wouldn’t support a bill lacking climate policy.
As recent Pew polls suggest, a strong majority of Americans support more renewable energy and do see EVs as better for the environment.
Pressure built last week as a number of environmental groups became more vocal.
The Biden plan faced some earlier criticism about its EV-related spending.
Both the House and Senate proposals attempt to accomplish Biden’s wider vision of infrastructure without raising taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year—although the Senate version reportedly includes a user fee for EV drivers .
In 2018, with the announcement of a $200 billion infrastructure spending plan, he pushed a 25-cent-per-gallon increase.
Americans want more renewable energy but there’s a strong partisan divide—just as the Biden administration might have to face a bipartisan “compromise” that reportedly strips some of that out of an infrastructure plan.
GM is adding more battery factories and upping investment, as Toyota says it’s too early to focus on EVs.