AEA Launches Initiative Calling on Republican Senators to End Welfare for Auto Manufacturers and Wealthy Coastal Elites

Majority Leader McConnell and GOP Must Stop the Expansion of the Inefficient, Costly and Unfair Electric Vehicle Subsidy

WASHINGTON DC (November 20, 2019) – The American Energy Alliance (AEA) turned their attention on Republican Senators today via the pages of The Wall Street Journal.  In a full-page advertisement, AEA called on Republicans to block the expansion of the unnecessary, inefficient, costly and unfair electric vehicle (EV) tax credit. 

Thomas Pyle, AEA President issued the following statement:

“House Democrats have made expanding the electric vehicle subsidy a top priority before Congress wraps up for the year. This move would essentially enrich two auto companies, GM and Tesla, along with wealthy coastal elites, mainly from California and New York.  It’s now up to the Republicans in the U.S. Senate to stop the madness.  No deals, no extensions.  Majority Leader McConnell and his Senate GOP colleagues must protect consumers and taxpayers by eliminating the electric vehicle tax credit once and for all.  At the very least, they must block the proposed expansion of this welfare program for the wealthy.”

The federal electric vehicle tax credit is a misguided and outdated policy that sends a clear and unavoidable message that we trust government, rather than consumers, to decide what kinds of cars Americans should buy.  The justification for this tax credit was to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  Today, America leads the world in energy production.  Though the tax credit is no longer needed, special interests in Washington are pushing for lawmakers to extend the manufacturers’ cap.

AEA has repeatedly reminded lawmakers that 78.7 percent of the EV tax credits went to households with an adjusted gross income of $100,000 or higher, and more than half went to households with an adjusted gross income of more than $200,000.  AEA has also done extensive public polling on EV subsidies and identified a clear theme – a majority of Americans don’t believe taxpayers’ money should go towards paying for other peoples’ cars.  Voters’ sentiments against paying for other’s electric vehicles especially sharpen when they learn nearly 50 percent of all subsidies are going to California.
 
While the tax credit is misguided as a whole, AEA highlights the fact that its original drafters had the foresight to limit it to the first 200,000 electric cars from a given manufacturer. That admirable restraint needs to remain intact.

• Send a Message to Lawmakers
• Voters to Congress: Make a U-Turn on Special Vehicle Preferences
• Free Market Coalition to Congress: No Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Expansion

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