Harris Still Giving Mixed Signals On EV Mandate

Here’s was her campaign in the last week

VP Harris puts out a statement saying she is opposed to EV mandates like the one supported by @GovInslee in Washington state.

WA’s mandate begins in 2026 with a requirement that 35% of new cars be EV/PHEV. We are currently about half that level. It reaches 100% in 2035. #waleg pic.twitter.com/TeSra6FmOT

— Todd Myers ???????????? (@WAPolicyGreen) August 27, 2024

And now (Axios piece, so, formatting is as they put it)

Harris campaign dodges over EV mandate walkback

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign won’t say whether she supports requiring automakers to build only electric or hydrogen vehicles by 2035 — a position she took during her 2020 campaign for president.

Why it matters: Since taking over President Biden’s campaign in July, Harris has been light on policy details.

• Harris’ campaign has said she no longer supports many of her past progressive positions and has embraced more centrist stances on health care, immigration, gun control and fracking.
• Even so, Donald Trump‘s campaign has focused on footage from Harris’ 2020 campaign to attack her as “dangerously liberal.”

Driving the news: Harris’ campaign has sent contradictory signals about her position on a mandate for automakers — a key issue in pivotal Midwestern states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where many autoworkers are based.

Again, she has an out on this, because it is technically not a mandate on consumers or manufacturers, it’s just requirements that manufacturers comply with MPG and CO2 emission standards, which means they have to make more EVs and fewer gas and hybrid vehicles.

Trump has falsely claimed that Biden has already instituted such a mandate, but the current administration has pushed the adoption of EVs through a combination of tough regulations and financial incentives.

See? Not really a mandate. It just forces you to get one because that’s what manufacturers have to make

Flashback: As a senator from California, Harris co-sponsored the Zero-Emissions Act in 2019, which would require by 2040 that 100% of new passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. release no greenhouse gases.

During her 2020 campaign, Harris promised to go further and implement an “accelerated model” of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, according to her archived website.

And, “On Tuesday afternoon, Harris’ campaign ultimately declined to comment.” If only we had a tough media which would demand candidates answer questions important to Americans.

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