The incoming Trump administration is seeking to eliminate a $7,500 tax credit for consumer purchases of electric vehicles (EVs), which was established by the Biden government, Reuters has reported.
According to the news agency, as well as scaling back support for EVs, the Trump transition team is also set to roll back on EV charging infrastructure and emissions standards.
Reuters noted that money earmarked for the expansion of EV charging infrastructure will instead be redirected towards battery mineral processing, including ramping up domestic production of minerals like lithium and graphite.
The transition team also intends to roll back emissions regulations, including shifting fuel economy and emissions standards to 2019 levels, and seek to block the state of California from setting its own tougher emissions standards.
Trump’s return
As analysts at AJ Bell noted earlier this year, prior to the US general election, Donald Trump’s return to office is likely to coincide with a renewed focus on domestic energy independence, and reduced investment in green energy projects.
“A Trump election victory could also create a tailwind for domestic fossil fuel producers in an effort to fortify America’s energy security,” Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, commented back in October.
However, others have suggested that the Trump administration’s efforts to slow the sustainability transition may harm US competitiveness globally.
“Donald Trump heading back to the White House won’t be a death knell to the clean energy transition that has rapidly picked up pace these last four years,” Dan Lashof, US director of the World Resources Institute noted last month. “Both Republican-led and Democratic-led states are seeing the benefits of wind, solar, and battery manufacturing and deployment thanks to the billions of dollars of investments unleashed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Governors and representatives in Congress on both sides of the aisle have come to recognise that clean energy is a huge moneymaker and a job creator. President Trump will face a bipartisan wall of opposition if he attempts to rip away clean energy incentives now.”
