- The Trump administration has revoked a key research finding which determined that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide were a threat to public health.
- The endangerment finding, which was originally introduced in 2009 under the then-Obama administration, helped form the argument of many aspects of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act.
- Now, with this key piece of research revoked, what changes could be in store for the US EV industry?
Key greenhouse gas research dropped – what next for the US?
Earlier this month, President Trump authorised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to eliminate the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding. These findings have formed the basis of many environmental protection laws in the US, particularly surrounding the automobile industry, and the EPA has already confirmed that this will lead to the removal of greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars produced between 2012 and 2027, with a view to remove these beyond 2027 also. The administration has claimed that this deregulation will lead to ‘more affordable vehicles available’, but the removal of this key legislation could also reduce local air quality across the US, whilst speeding up the climate change process.
With the legal basis of the endangerment findings now revoked, the federal government has greater rein to roll back more emissions and efficiency related regulations.
Possible affects on the US EV industry
The removal of these targets means that many automakers in the US will feel much less pressure to electrify their offerings, which could reduce the pace at which EV sales and EV uptake increase in the country.
The policy shift already follows other changes under the current US administration which have largely been seen as negative for EVs. This included the end of the $7,500 federal tax grant towards new EV purchases, as well as tax credits for the purchase of a used electric vehicle. More recently, the Trump administration proposed new regulations for public charger funding. If finalised, the content within an EV charger must be 100% American, up from a previous target of 55%, to be eligible to receive federal funding.
Some states push ahead with electrification
Whilst the change is undoubtedly a setback for the US EV industry, there are still positives remaining, with manufacturers such as Rivian and newcomer Slate still pushing forward on plans to roll out affordable EVs for the US market. And, in the absence of federal EV requirements, state-specific policies such as California’s proposed $200m ZEV program, and the natural market demand for EVs, can still help the transition to continue.
The more recent proposal to only grant federal funding to public chargers which are made of 100% American components could prevent some CPOs from securing funding which was easily securable under the previous 55% eligibility rule. However, some CPOs, such as IONNA, already rely heavily on private capital rather than federal funding to fund their expansion. CPOs such as this will likely be less affected by this proposal.
