‘What’s Not To Love If We Do This Right?’: Sheldon Whitehouse Highlights Future Of EVs

4 months ago

During a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) gave opening remarks about the future of electric vehicles and the auto industry.

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Transcript

00:00hearing of the Senate Budget Committee to order and welcome my distinguished ranking member,

00:05Senator Grassley. We're going to begin with opening remarks by myself and then

00:10Ranking Member Grassley and then Senator Graham, at whose request this hearing is

00:17taking place. So let me start by thanking Senator Graham and his staff for their partnership on

00:24today's hearing and thank Ranking Member Grassley for his blessing of this effort.

00:30Today's bipartisan hearing looks at transitioning away from fossil fuels, in my view, an economic,

00:36national security, and climate imperative in a way that effectively seizes opportunities

00:43and addresses challenges. The auto industry is a major economic engine, as Senator Stabenow,

00:50who is here, will be the first to argue. In 2023, the global auto market was valued at $4 trillion,

00:58of which the U.S. accounted for a bit less than 17%. Two U.S. automakers, Ford and GM,

01:06are among the world's five largest automakers. Foreign companies operate assembly plants in the

01:13U.S. Senator Graham is attentive to the BMW plant that operates in his home state. Whenever we go

01:21to the Munich Security Conference, he's sure to check in with the BMW folks to make sure they

01:26keep building in South Carolina. Motor vehicles and parts were America's second largest export,

01:34and the auto market could increase to over $6 trillion by 2031. So we want to be a part of

01:42that action. To grow U.S. autoworkers' share of this growing pie, we need to understand and respond

01:50to this global market. So here's where we are. Globally, 20% of vehicles sold in 2023 around the

01:57world were electric. 20%. In China, which is the world's largest auto market, 33% of cars were

02:04electric. In Europe, 20% of vehicles sold were electric. And other major markets are racing to

02:11EVs. Between 2022 and 2023, electric car sales tripled in Brazil. And more than quadrupled

02:20in Thailand. And I put into the record an article from the New York Times, which I just now

02:29misplaced, but that points out how the Thai auto market has been lost to Japanese manufacturing,

02:38which used to control it, because they aren't producing the electric vehicles that the Thai

02:44market demands. So you got to have the vehicles people want to meet the market. Here it is. Thank

02:53you. Without objection, I will add that to the record. The writing is on the wall for us. Around

02:59the world, the future of personal transportation is electric, completely independent of whatever

03:03the United States decides to do. And that's great. First, it means more freedom from a global

03:09commodity whose price is manipulated by international petro-dictators. Over and over,

03:15American consumers suffer as the geopolitical designs of petro-dictators cause oil prices to

03:21soar. Real energy independence comes from independence from fossil fuel cartels.

03:28Going electric benefits western democracies as oil and gas revenues fund many of our worst

03:34foreign adversaries. Look no further than the corrupt petro-tyrant Vladimir Putin. As we

03:41reduce our dependence on oil and gas, we diminish our foreign adversaries' ability to bully and

03:46corrupt. Senator Graham and I wrote in a 2021 op-ed published in Time magazine, if you could

03:52wave a magic wand and transition the world away from fossil fuels, Americans would instantly be

03:57safer. And without objection, I ask that that be made a part of the record. As the driver and owner

04:05of two Chevy Bolts, I'll also add they're just better cars. They're quieter, faster, and more

04:12fun to drive. They don't have tailpipe emissions stinking up highways and neighborhoods. Repair and

04:18maintenance costs are nearly non-existent. No oil changes, one-tenth the number of parts to

04:23break or fail, no expensive, dangerous, smelly gasoline. In emergencies, EV fleets can even

04:30provide backup power to families when the grid goes down. And smart EV chargers can help shave

04:36dangerous load peaks for electric utilities if we make the needed small investments in the required

04:44infrastructure. And of course, yes, electric vehicles dramatically reduce carbon pollution

04:50in the transportation sector, currently the largest source of fossil fuel emissions in the U.S.

04:56The more we reduce carbon pollution, the better our chances of avoiding the dire, systemic,

05:01climate-related economic risks we've discussed in this committee over the last 18 months.

05:07It may be too late to save Florida's property insurance market, but there are plenty of other

05:13risks we'd be wise to avoid and fools to stumble into. Electrifying the transportation sector

05:20presents a tremendous economic opportunity. Automakers get the message that people want EVs

05:26and they are responding. Since 2017, they have, along with their battery partners, invested $125

05:33billion in electrification. Twenty states have or will have EV production or assembly

05:41of battery facilities. For some reason, Tesla is taking a hit, but other makers

05:47are seeing surging sales year over year. Ford EV sales increased 86 percent from the first

05:53quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. Rivian sales jumped 59 percent over the same

06:01period. So how do we position our auto industry and our nation for that economic opportunity and

06:06for global competitiveness? As our economy electrifies, it needs to be supported by a 21st,

06:12not a 20th century grid. The grid will need to handle increased demand from electric vehicles,

06:19from heating and cooling, from manufacturing, from hydrogen electrolyzing,

06:23and from energy gobbling data centers. To meet this demand with clean power requires new and

06:28upgraded transmission to deliver that power to consumers. That means smart reforms to our

06:34cumbersome and antiquated permitting process. Domestic supply chain investments must accelerate.

06:41Look at China. 15 years ago, China saw the value of electric vehicles and batteries

06:46and began investing. And now it dominates critical mineral and battery manufacturing markets.

06:52Let's learn the servitude lessons from our fossil fuel dependence and from our lost

06:57manufacturing capacity. Let's swiftly counter this emerging geopolitical risk with smart investment

07:04and take back our economic dominance in clean energy products. We must also find a way to

07:10reconcile the surging EV market with the Highway Trust Fund that provides 80% of federal highway

07:16spending with a majority of its revenue from federal gas taxes. The bipartisan infrastructure

07:22law which most recently replenished the fund sunsets in just two years. The clock is ticking

07:28on highway infrastructure funding. To my mind, this is a morning in America moment.

07:35Freedom from dependence on petro dictators. Opportunity to reclaim from China clean energy

07:42leadership. Better, safer products for American consumers with more money in their pockets.

07:49Cleaner air to breathe along highways and neighborhood streets. And an important step

07:55forward on our pathway to climate safety. What's not to love if we do this right?

08:00Thank you again to Senator Graham for this hearing. I look forward to the conversation.

‘What’s Not To Love If We Do This Right?’: Sheldon Whitehouse Highlights Future Of EVs

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