April 17, 2024, 11:48 a.m.
Last month President Biden endorsed new automobile emissions standards in a bid to cut greenhouse gasses. The endorsement was a victory for progressives, who for years have pushed for stricter rules cutting back on pollution. As our own Lauren Green wrote at the time, the rule “sets an ambitious target to meet Biden’s clean-energy agenda,” and is “expected to boost the sale of electric vehicles starting in 2027.”
The transition to electric vehicles is central to Biden’s strategy to combat climate change. Former President Trump has seized on Biden’s promotion of electric vehicles for months, claiming without evidence that it signals the end of gasoline-powered cars and that electric cars will “kill” America’s auto industry.
Fears over electric vehicles loomed over the prolonged United Auto Workers strike last year that shut down plants in three states and impacted nearly 50% of the vehicles manufactured domestically. When the strike finally ended after six weeks, automakers struck an agreement with the union “to build future EVs in existing U.S. factories, further enhancing job security for tens of thousands of autoworkers,” according to Axios.
However, there is evidence that those fears of EV vehicles costing jobs have not abated. More than half of Georgia voters oppose Biden’s newly announced emissions mandates that would hasten the transition to EVs, according to polling first shared with Hotline from the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, a group opposed to the EPA mandates. The survey (April 10; 927 LVs; +/-3%) found 58% of the swing state voters oppose “government policies to ban new gas, diesel and traditional hybrid vehicles, effectively mandating electric vehicles,” compared to just 10% who support such policies. The poll also found Trump leading Biden in Georgia, 48%-43%, with 9% undecided. A similar poll in Maine (April 10; 792 LVs; +/-3.5%) found that 59% of voters statewide oppose the measure while 66% of ME-02 voters oppose the mandates.
Republicans have echoed Trump’s EV talking points on the campaign trail. Transitioning to electronic vehicles is also a flashpoint in the Michigan Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D). The GOP frontrunner, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R), railed against EV mandates during his campaign launch last year. Both Trump-endorsed Rogers and the NRSC have criticized the Democratic frontrunner, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-07), for supporting bans on gas vehicles. Meanwhile, Slotkin is promoting a training program in Lansing focused on manufacturing EV batteries. The Department of Energy fueled that project with a $5 million investment.
Combating climate change is far from the top priority for voters, far behind concerns over jobs and the economy. Biden’s new EV and emissions mandates touch on all those aspects, and over the next six months he’ll have to thread his message carefully.
— Kirk A. Bado
kbado@nationaljournal.com
