The $7.5 billion of funding provided in the bipartisan infrastructure bill can get us halfway to that 500,000 charging station goal and will provide critical access to chargers for millions across the country. While some can charge their electric car in their own driveway, public chargers are necessary for many who don’t have access to off-street parking. Deployment of the chargers will also prioritize hard-to-reach areas that currently have little access to electric vehicle chargers, and these public stations will be essential for long-distance electric vehicle travel.
Legislators from both sides of the aisle have shown their support for investments in electric vehicle chargers. Just one example: Earlier this year, Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Richard Burr (R-NC), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced joint legislation that would provide tax incentives to build out clean vehicle infrastructure. The infrastructure bill itself passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, with 19 Republicans voting in favor in addition to all Senate Democrats. This is further evidence that more across the political spectrum are seeing the benefits that electric vehicles offer and the necessary steps we need to take to make their rollout a reality.
In the past ten years, electric vehicle sales have grown 10-fold in the U.S., and this historic bill is one of the many advances toward the electric vehicle transition. In July, Electrify America, funded by Volkswagen as part of its emissions cheating scandal settlement, announced it would more than double its network of electric vehicle charging stations by 2025. In August, President Biden announced a goal to have 50% of US car sales be electric by 2030. In September, New York joined California and Massuchusetts in committing to phasing out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. The EPA is currently considering a rulemaking that will strengthen vehicle emissions standards, and Congress is debating a major extension and reform of the federal electric vehicle tax credit that will make electric cars more affordable and spur technological innovation.
These measures can’t come fast enough. This past summer alone, one in three Americans were impacted by a climate-related disaster. Scientists are now saying that these impacts are coming stronger and faster than they previously expected. I’m grateful to all of the legislators who worked hard to get climate policies included in this package that are necessary to mitigating the worsening impacts of climate change, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sens. Carper and Capito and all members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Hickenlooper and of course, President Biden.
While EV charging stations alone won’t solve all climate problems, they are a huge start in driving towards a future powered by clean, electric transportation. We can’t wait.
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November 06, 2021 at 10:42AM
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Charged up for an electric vehicle future - Illinois PIRG
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