Republicans are on the offensive over electric vehicles, and Democrats are struggling to find their footing.
In tight House and Senate races in Michigan, Virginia, New York and Montana, Republican candidates are putting Democrats on the defensive by accusing the Biden administration of wanting to “require” drivers to ditch their Chevy Tahoes for Chevy Bolts. Some Republicans are misleadingly linking EV tax subsidies to cuts in Medicare payments to pharmaceutical companies.
These attacks, which mirror Donald Trump’s campaign against Kamala Harris, come as multiple groups join in on both sides of the electric vehicle debate. Fossil fuel interests are spending tens of millions of dollars on Senate races, while environmentalists wage their own battles. efforts to promote the benefits of driving an electric car.
During a debate in the Michigan Senate this month, former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican, pointed to thousands of layoffs of auto workers in the state and attacked Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin for a recent vote in which she rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s tightened limits in the field of environmental protection. exhaust pipe pollution from cars and trucks.
“My opponent has supported EV mandates several times, trying to pick the cars our companies will have to build and the cars you will have to buy,” he said.
Like many Republicans, Rogers has argued that China, which dominates the electrical parts market, could be the ultimate winner.
Democrats are struggling to reassure skeptical voters. In some cases, including Slotkin’s, they have insisted that “no one is going to impose anything.”
That’s true for the most part. While the EPA is not banning gasoline-powered cars entirely, the agency estimates that the strict regulations could result in more than half of new cars sold being zero-emission vehicles by early next decade.
The Republicans think they are winning the battle.
“What’s reflected in these campaigns is the fact that preserving freedom of choice and the kinds of cars and trucks that people can buy is a very popular, populist position,” said Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, which has funded received from the fossil fuel industry. supports Trump and some Republican congressional candidates.
“This is definitely a big problem for Republicans. It’s about making sure people are free to choose,” he said.
Polls and research in recent years have shown that electric vehicles are a polarizing topic for Americans.
For example, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found strong partisan agreement on electric vehicle adoption, while a recent poll from the University of Chicago Energy Policy Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a majority of Americans do not support EV subsidies.
A poll in Michigan this summer found that 55 percent of voters disapproved of Biden-Harris efforts to boost electric car adoption. Only 40 percent approved.
Attacks across the country
Republican candidates see EVs as a win for China, which controls much of the global market for crucial minerals used in their production. Democrats say the Inflation Reduction Act, their 2022 climate bill, is aimed at reducing China’s influence.
During last week’s debate in Michigan, Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, invoked national security in her support of EV policy.
“If you’re concerned about electric car building overseas, if you’re concerned about China having the supply chain, come back and join us here in Michigan where we’ve been trying to tighten our supply chains since Covid to bring back. she said. “I’m not just going to hand it over to China, and my opponent certainly seems to be okay with that.”
Slotkin has been the target of numerous ads from Rogers, Republicans and the oil industry about electric vehicles. In her ad seeking to counter Republican attacks, Slotkin emphasized, “I live on a dirt road, nowhere near a charging station, so I don’t own an electric car.”
In fact, as Rogers’ campaign pointed out, her home is about a nine-minute drive from the nearest charging station. And most EV owners have a home charging system.
Car-heavy Michigan has also seen a focus on EVs from Trump and Harris, with a similar accusation that Harris wants to ban gas-powered vehicles.
Although she previously supported that idea in the Senate, Harris recently declared at a rally: “Contrary to what my opponent suggests, I will never tell you what kind of car you should drive.”
On Friday, during a call with members of the United Auto Workers — a union that had refrained from supporting President Joe Biden’s re-election bid due to the potential labor market impact of pro-EV policies, Harris said: “We will ensure that the next generation of breakthroughs, from advanced batteries to electric vehicles, are not just invented, but built, right here in America, by American union workers.”
Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, echoed his party colleagues at a recent rally in Warren, Michigan, with his own twist.
“It just has to be your choice,” he said. ‘No one forces you to do anything. If you want to be like me and drive a 1979 International Harvester Scout that is sweet as hell, knock yourself over and drive it.”
Michigan Republican Rep. John James tried to tie his Democratic opponent Carl Marlinga to a ban on gasoline cars with an ad alongside the National Republican Congressional Committee. And Republican Paul Hudson criticized his opponent, Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten, for not voting to overturn the tailpipe rule.
Outside Michigan, Austin Theriault, the Republican challenger to Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), declared in an ad that he would “end Biden’s electric vehicle mandate.” During a recent debate, Theriault blamed the IRA, which Golden voted for, for proposed EV mandates in states like Maine.
“How can you say you are against EV mandates when there are literally billions of dollars out there – look it up, I promise… there are billions of dollars in EV tax credits, there are billions of dollars in infrastructure building,” said Theriault. “We don’t want them in Maine. We don’t want them.”
“The fact is, there is no EV mandate in the Inflation Reduction Act… read the bill,” Golden shot back. He boasted that he “stood up” against the “Build Back Better Act,” Biden’s original bill for climate and social programs, which was reduced to the IRA, which he supports.
In Virginia, Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans claimed in a debate that Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal, who has not previously held office, endorsed Virginia’s law to follow California’s emissions rules, including the 2035 zero emissions standard.
‘Deliberate lies’
Ads featuring electric cars have popped up in races like New York’s 1st District, where Rep. Nick LaLota and the National Republican Congressional Committee say Democratic challenger John Avlon supports tax breaks for electric cars and cuts Medicare to pay for them.
It’s apparently a reference to the IRA, which reduced Medicare spending by letting the government negotiate drug prices and changing the rules for EV subsidies.
In California’s 13th District, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super political action committee backed by the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives, charges that Democrat Adam Gray wants to “take gas cars… off the road.” Gray is challenging Republican Rep. John Duarte.
And in Montana, an ad from Republican Tim Sheehy and the National Republican Senatorial Committee repeats Medicare’s claim, saying Democratic Senator Jon Tester has joined other Democrats and “spent Medicare dollars on electric vehicles instead of helping seniors to help.”
David Kieve, chairman of EDF Action, said it is understandable that voters are concerned about a ban on petrol cars, but such a ban does not exist. The group is the advocacy group of the Environmental Defense Fund.
“The politics around EVs are generally great. The politics around banning anything in this country sucks. If you ask the American people, ‘Do you support the government that is taking away your blah, blah, blah,’ they will say ‘no,'” Kieve said.
“Fortunately, such a ban does not exist, and it drives me crazy,” he continued. “I think some of the people and groups spreading these deliberate lies need to be held accountable.”
EDF and EDF Action have been running ads in battleground states this year that generally support EVs and pro-EV policies, some of which include Republicans.
The messages mainly point to the consumer-oriented benefits of electric vehicles, but also promote production and other arguments in favor of them.
“They’re bringing home billions and billions of dollars of private sector investment. And Michigan is doing better than almost every state in the country,” Kieve said.
Big money from oil
A prominent force flooding the airwaves this year was American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the oil refinery trade group. That sector risks losing if the growth of electric vehicles causes reduced demand for gasoline and diesel.
AFPM said it has spent at least $10 million since February on advertising against the tailpipe rule and other pro-EV policies on television and digital media. Data collected by tracking agency AdImpact shows the ads were aired more than 80,000 times.
Most ads mention Biden, Harris or vulnerable Democratic candidates.
The aim of the campaign was to move public opinion against the policy. Previous ads also urged lawmakers to vote to overturn the exhaust rule.
Because they are “issue” ads that do not directly advocate for or against someone’s election, they are not covered by federal election laws regarding funding, disclosure and other matters. They have named Democratic candidates in close Senate races in Michigan, Montana and Nevada.
“President Biden is banning most cars, putting our freedom to choose what we drive in the rearview mirror. And Senator Sherrod Brown couldn’t stop him,” says a voiceover in an Ohio ad.
“Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to end sales of all new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and take away our choices,” says an ad in Pennsylvania, asking viewers to “call Senator Bob Casey and tell him to stop the Biden-Harris car ban.”
“These policies will have enormous ramifications across the economy and impact every American driver, taxpayer and electricity user,” said AFPM spokesperson Ericka Perryman.
“There is a disturbing lack of awareness about this policy,” she said, pointing to polls commissioned by AFPM and outside polls showing opposition when the details are explained.
“The public has spoken, and they remain strongly opposed to any government efforts aimed at eliminating new gasoline vehicles,” AFPM President Chet Thompson said in an Oct. 1 statement about the latest round of ads. “Gasoline car bans and EV mandates are clearly political imperatives.”
