Trump’s moves against electric vehicles are a blow to industry and climate future

Shakespeare told of a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.

Ignoring that tide can leave someone — or a nation — stranded. President Donald Trump, by drawing a target on the sale of electric vehicles, wants to ignore a tide that can help save the planet from the worst effects of climate change.

He essentially wants America to be left at ebb tide while China and Europe improve their technologies and boost their sales of EVs. More than half of new cars sold in China already are electric or hybrid. American auto manufacturers, including those in Illinois, hope to compete on the world stage, but under Trump’s plan, they could fall far behind.

“U.S. automakers want a chunk of what is the fastest-growing auto market in the world,” Kathy Harris, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s director for clean vehicles, told us. “That is a hard thing if you have the president hobbling their ability to invest.”

Trying to put up a stop sign in front of electric vehicles is just one way Trump is going against the tides. He wants to hollow out the ranks of experienced civil servants and replace them with workers who pass a “loyalty test”; upend immigration policies in a way that could prove chaotic and damaging in unexpected ways; change trade policies, risking the alienation of allies, and — through his and other action — put Americans’ health at risk. Those are just some of his notions that could cause long-term damage.

America last, not first

By doing what he can to get rid of EV tax credits; grants to increase the charging network, and support for manufacturing batteries, Trump is signaling he wants America to sit back while other nations improve their EV technologies. He has ordered a pause in already-funded plans for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Whether he can use a mere executive order to overturn laws enacted by Congress is uncertain. But if he succeeds, it could strand the nation on a back road. If America tries to catch up at a later day, where would the enormous resources to do so come from?

The European Union, by contrast, has just promised to help that continent’s auto industry with subsidies to counter China’s massive investments in EVs. America can’t expect to drive down the road in the opposite direction by gambling on fossil fuels and still win the race.

On his first day in office, Trump also signed anti-climate executive orders to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, try to reverse a ban on drilling on 625 million acres of federal waters, stop the leasing of off-shore wind-energy farms, and other measures. Taken together, along with his attack on EVs, those measures will hurt the climate.

It doesn’t have to be that way. States can step in and amp up their own programs to encourage sales of electric vehicles, and individuals can make a special effort to research whether buying an EV makes sense for them. Electric vehicles without subsidies cost more than their internal combustion counterparts, but they are cheaper to operate and, over the long term, are competitive on cost.

A new report says EVs now last as long as vehicles with internal combustion engines, and EVs are continuously being improved. For example, heat pumps are upgrading EV range in cold weather. Batteries continue to improve.

What those who prefer internal combustion engines don’t always mention is the Earth already is beset by climate disasters of increasing severity. California’s fires are just among the most recent examples. Eighteen of the worst 20 wildfires in California’s history have occurred since 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported. Scientists say climate disasters from hurricanes to drought to heat waves will just keep getting worse if nothing is done.

Trump and his allies are making it clear they don’t want to be at the forefront of the worldwide surge of EVs, but others, from states to auto manufacturers, should try to make that happen. Michigan, for example, is investing more than $27 billion into about 60 EV manufacturing and battery projects in the state, PBS News reported.

Years from now, America should not be looking back on these times wishing it had taken a different fork in the road.

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