Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse EV adoption

jeffw@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 862 points –
Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse EV adoption
theverge.com
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"Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman accused President Biden of being “willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in service of its radical green agenda."

I mean we could try and transition workers from a more negative industry type to a positive one...but that seems like a lot of work and less profitable, so never mind.

What the actual fuck is wrong with Republican politicians? I mean, I already know what's wrong with Republican voters - brainwashing by years of Fox "News" - but the politicians? Are they all literal sociopaths?

No, they're just doing what they're being paid to do by special interest groups aka big business. It's not a bug and it's not a feature; it's the point. Optimal profits this quarter. Every quarter is a new quasi generation of executives who want a good quarter before moving on after x quarters.

The philosophy behind conservativism is to stay still. Conserve the status. Do not progress.

But you're describing a standard Dem. Repubs are actively trying to drag us backwards. They are regressives.

This is so infuriating, especially when it’s so easy to show that voting against progressive initiatives also hurts their own constituents…

This is so infuriating, especially when it’s so easy to show that voting against progressive initiatives also hurts their own constituents…

"I don't care how much it hurts me, as long as the people I hate are also getting hurt!"

I'm already depressed as it is. Why do you have to do me in like that?

That's a popular misconception. The philosophy behind conservatism is to perpetuate hierarchy. The ideology was developed by literal monarchists, and when the "divine right" excuse became untenable they moved on to others like racism and capitalism, but the goal remained the same. It only seems like they want to maintain the status quo because the historical status quo was hierarchical, but rest assured: if society were magically egalitarian instead, conservatives would vigorously try to make sweeping, wholesale changes to create a hierarchy from scratch.

Interesting insight. Thanks for the correction. Perhaps the choice of lexeme "conservatism" would best be swapped for a neologism like "hierarchism" or something to better describe the principles of the school of thought. Otherwise, I made the connection like OC that conservatism = no change, whether good or bad.

Otherwise, I made the connection like OC that conservatism = no change, whether good or bad.

That's exactly what they want you to think. It's one of the more prominent ways in which they launder their ideology to make it seem appealing to more people than just sociopaths. (Or at least, used to, until they went full mask-off under Trump.)

Yes. The term has been kind of redefined in practise from massive misuse. Just like many others.

Correct.

They are in charge and are going to do everything to keep it that way.

As you said.

Nothing. They're behaving quite rationally.

You just have to understand that their motivation is not "successful governing" or "making the world better" but rather, "getting more money."

When you view their actions through the lens of self-enrichment, they're behaving quite normally.

You gotta know at this point the system has feedback. Its possible most of them were raised on the same shit their constituents are huffing.

ever since the tea party and especially trump the inmates are running the asylum

Nah before that was Bush and Cheney getting us into decades long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because some Saudis attacked us.

It's been so long that the inmates are running the asylum in the GOP these days.

When you brainwashed for generations, you end with brainwashed in politics. This is just the beginning.

It’s just simple corruption (or lobby, as it’s called in the US), they are saying what the highest bidder asks them to say

rustbelting makes voters transition from democrat to republican. you could argue that they actually benefit from declining industry, so of course they're going for it

Are they all literal sociopaths?

Yes. Just pick one and pay attention to what they do and say for a little while.

omg politicians being bad I'm absolutely gobsmacked

The American auto industry could also produce EVs, if it so chose. Nobody has to lose their jobs.

As an American auto worker, I like our move to EVs and the jobs at the massive new factories we built. But I guess wanting blue collar workers learning new skills and technologies makes me a gay communist.

Why gay?

Because nonsensical insults are their bread and butter, and just being a communist isn't good enough anymore.

just being a communist isn't good enough anymore.

Especially since they love Russia now (because it's fascist), but the distinction between the communist USSR and the fascist Russian Federation confuses a lot of their base.

Tesla is an American company. The 'traditional' American auto companies like GM and Ford don't even build or source a lot of their parts in the US and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep has been owned by a European company for quite a while now. This guy is a chump and I wish someone would have called him out on his BS.

This guy is a chump and I wish someone would have called him out on his BS.

It's no wonder. He's a Republican, so that automatically makes him a assbag. Also, Toyota has a Camry manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Ford assembles Escapes in Louisville, and of course GM makes Corvettes in Bowling Green, so it's no surprise that he'd be regressive towards automotive tech (even though Ford and SK are spending like $4 billion to build two battery manufactuing plants outside Louisville).

Maybe someone should create EV incentives, with a requirement to be manufactured in country - both incentive to buy and incentive to manufacturers to invest in guaranteed growth area, and for their own future. Oops, that’s what we already have

They already do: Ford has the Mach-E & F-150 Lightning plus a bunch of PHEVs, GM has (had) the Bolt, Stellantis makes a few PHEVs among which one of the the very few cars on the market that can carry 7 passengers on battery power (the Chrysler Pacifica) altough that one is made in Canada, not the US.

Oh, and all of Tesla.

The American auto industry could also produce EVs, if it so chose.

I find that very hard to believe.

A lot of manufacturers are. They just aren’t making as many EVs as they are ICE.

There's also nothing stopping the big three from making EVs.

And making more than the minimum the government requires them to make for quota. Demand is even there now, so there's no excuse other than the bottom line, plus a bit of cooperation with the oil companies.

So I keep hearing people say:

“Just wait until the big players get into the game, then I’ll buy a good car”.

Imo the big players don’t deserve to survive this transition. They had their opportunity to spearhead it but instead literally chose to be on the wrong side of history.

Nothing stopping big players but greed to get into the EV game.

Yeah but it's cheaper to just kill the competition than expand into a whole new sector.

Perhaps they'd like to rollback all the times we've bailed out the auto industry. We don't want the government to be choosing winners and losers, after all.

Please do. "too big to fail" is bullshit. All the equipment getting liquidated could have went to companies that could have started up for pennies. I can only imaging how many companies could have started and where they'd be today if they were allowed to do their thing.

I'm really tired of republicans calling anything democrats do "radical" or "extreme" when they're just pushing for the most mild stuff. I would die for some actual radical left ideas.

I don't know what this guy is pissed about. China is going to make their EVs in Mexico, like responsible American companies!

They've already made contracts and announcements for France as well.

The funny part is that the US could just subsidize their EVs at the same rate and keep China out, but they'd rather sacrifice their whole auto industry to keep subsidizing oil.

That’s weird, because my Ford PHEV was assembled in Kentucky.

and its worker

UAW got bipartisan support, right?

It's almost like one of the main functions a functioning federal government is to create and regulate new markets. But why bother politicians with work when they can just try to bully people into complacency.