On Thursday, the White House announced that it was confident a $1.75 trillion version of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill would be able to pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate and that it would “set the United States on course to meet its climate goals.”
As part of this agenda, the White House is describing this nearly $2 trillion spending drive as “the largest effort to combat climate change in American history.”
“The framework will cut greenhouse gas pollution by well over one gigaton in 2030, reduce consumer energy costs, give our kids cleaner air and water, create hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs, and advance environmental justice by investing in a 21st-century clean energy economy — from buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, and agriculture to climate-smart practices across our lands and waters,” the Biden administration claimed.
According to the White House, part of this effort involves “substantial consumer rebates” regarding electric vehicles, with the electric vehicle tax credit being increased from $7,500 to $12,500.
“The consumer rebates and credits included in the Build Back Better framework will save the average American family hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs,” announced the Biden administration. “These measures include enhancement and expansion of existing home energy and efficiency tax credits, as well as the creation of a new, electrification-focused rebate program. The framework will cut the cost of installing rooftop solar for a home by around 30 percent, shortening the payback period by around 5 years; and the framework’s electric vehicle tax credit will lower the cost of an electric vehicle that is made in America with American materials and union labor by $12,500 for a middle-class family.”
“In addition, the framework will help rural communities tap into the clean energy opportunity through targeted grants and loans through the Department of Agriculture,” the White House added.
“We’ll build out the first-ever national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations, all across the country,” announced President Biden on Thursday. “So when you buy an electric vehicle — and you get credit for buying it —when you buy an electric vehicle, you can go all the way across America on a single tank of gas, figuratively speaking.”
“It’s not gas, you plug it in,” he added. “500,000 of them, these stations along the way.”
According to EVBox, the average electric vehicle range on a single charge is 194 miles, with the longest being 396 miles. The distance across the country — for example, New York City to Los Angeles — is approximately 2,800 miles, which means that the average vehicle would need to be charged over 14 times — far more than the “figurative” one tank of “gas” President Biden seems to be referring to.
This news also coincides with criticism leveled against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi.
“The financial dealings of Pelosi’s husband, Paul, came under scrutiny earlier this year when he purchased as much as $1 million of Tesla call options, one of the largest transactions of Tesla shares disclosed by a member of Congress,” reported The Washington Free Beacon. “At the time, Republicans charged that the House speaker was cashing in on her power.”
“Pelosi is spearheading negotiations with the White House as Democrats look to pass Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan and a reconciliation bill that includes the electric car incentives,” the outlet added. “Tesla, a pioneer in the electric car industry, is poised to see a significant boost from the legislation, according to industry watchers.”