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The incoming president has referred to climate change as a "hoax" and has courted executives from fossil fuel companies during his campaign.
In what is possibly the least surprise piece of news to emerge over the past six weeks, it has been claimed that President-elect Donald Trump intends to reverse the regulations that President Biden has implemented regarding pollution and electric vehicles. According to Reuters, the transition team for the new president has suggested that funding for electric vehicles and charging stations be cut off, while at the same time, attempts to ban the importation of automobiles, components, and battery materials from China have been increased.
Other measures that have been mentioned by the transition team include imposing additional taxes on all battery materials around the world, increasing the production of battery materials in the United States, and seeking exemptions through negotiations with allies. Additionally, it is rumored that they intend to shift funds that were intended for the construction of charging stations and the reduction of the cost of electric vehicles to the procurement of batteries and the minerals that are necessary for their production from countries other than China. Also, it has been claimed that they intend to get rid of the $7,500 tax credit that the Biden administration offers to consumers who buy electric vehicles.
By reversing emissions and fuel economy regulations, the plans would increase the number of gas-powered vehicles that automakers are able to create. This would bring them back to the levels that they were at in 2019. According to Reuters, this would result in approximately 25 percent more emissions per car mile than the limitations that are currently in place. It would also reduce the fuel economy of the typical automobile by approximately 15 percent.
Researchers who study climate change have emphasized the significance of making the switch from gas-powered automobiles to electric vehicles (EVs) in order to cut down on carbon emissions and protect the earth from the most catastrophic scenarios. The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly those that are produced by car emissions, causes the temperature to get warmer. The result is a chain reaction of consequences that can be observed in the atmosphere, on land, and in the oceans, some of which are already being observed.
When it comes to tariffs, analysts have stated that Trump's proposals are likely to provoke many trade wars. This is because countries would retaliate by imposing taxes on American goods, which will disrupt supply chains and penetrate the core of the alliances that the United States has formed since the end of World War II. "If we go down the tariff war path, we're going down a very dark path for the economy," Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said in an interview with The New York Times in October.
The administration of Vice President Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of climate legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which allotted $369 billion for green programs, and EPA rules that compels automobile manufacturers to increase sales of electric vehicles.
While everything is going on, Trump has referred to climate change as a "hoax." During the month of May, he reportedly assured a group of oil CEOs that he would quickly remove scores of environmental regulations that were imposed by Biden while simultaneously preventing the implementation of additional regulations. In exchange for such deregulatory measures, he demanded that they raise one billion dollars for his political campaign. (We are grateful to Citizens United!) The stories concerning his transition team's plans are still a stomach punch to people who are concerned about keeping the world in a habitable state for future generations (and mitigating the effects that we are already witnessing), but they are not exactly shocking to anyone who is paying attention to what is going on.
