Republican Congressman Calls for Cancellation of $7,500 Plug-in Vehicle Tax Credit

[tommolog]

Republican Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania just introduces a bill to end the Federal Tax Credit for plug in cars. It's H.R. 3768 and if it passes we will lose the $7,500 tax credit which will be a serious blow to all plug in cars.

This blow-hard has made millions in oil and has repeatedly defended subsidies to the oil industry yet want's "the people to decide which energy wins" when it comes to electric cars. I think he wants HIS energy to win and doesn't care about the people he represents. Read this about his oil connections: Rep. Kelly, Millionaire Investor In Oil And Gas Companies, Defends Subsidies Against Angry Town Hall Constituents | ThinkProgress

Anyway, please call your congressman(especially if they are republican) and tell them not to support H.R. 3768. The only way to defeat this is to let our elected officials know that we'll vote them out if they support this bill. I just spent half an hour on the phone(it's easy to get their phone number with an online search) with a member of his staff and left my contact information for them to reply back to me on his position. I'm going to now go to his local office next week to continue the conversation. Let your voice be heard, this is too important not to get involved!

 

[AnOutsider]

I'm torn here. I definitely can see where he's being a bit scummy if his ties are in fact true, but at the same time, I'm sort of neutral on gov't subsidies. I think the $7,500 credit definitely helps push EVs forward. Would they stall without it? Not sure... Though, if the gov is going to subsidize oil, why not alternative energy sources?

 

[Doug_G]

I'd like to see "Republican Congressman Calls for Cancellation of Fossil Fuel Subsidies"

 

[EVNow]

Republican Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania just introduces a bill to end the Federal Tax Credit for plug in cars. It's H.R. 3768 and if it passes we will lose the $7,500 tax credit which will be a serious blow to all plug in cars.

There is zero chance of anything like this passing - as long as there are senators willing to defeat it (think of R senators from TN, for eg).

 

[tommolog]

I'm torn here. I definitely can see where he's being a bit scummy if his ties are in fact true, but at the same time, I'm sort of neutral on gov't subsidies. I think the $7,500 credit definitely helps push EVs forward. Would they stall without it? Not sure... Though, if the gov is going to subsidize oil, why not alternative energy sources?

That's the point. Sure I'm also for ending subsidies, but how can people say "End electric car tax breaks, let the free market decide" when we subsidize oil to the tune of billions. When one of our elected officials say's it while they have made millions in oil, it's a joke. Why would anyone oppose using domestic electricity for personal transportation vs. foreign oil, especially a US congressman.

 

[Norbert]

I made a post about this earlier today:
More anti-ev gibberish

But it's important enough to have a thread of its own...

 

[Norbert]

I'm torn here. I definitely can see where he's being a bit scummy if his ties are in fact true, but at the same time, I'm sort of neutral on gov't subsidies. I think the $7,500 credit definitely helps push EVs forward. Would they stall without it? Not sure... Though, if the gov is going to subsidize oil, why not alternative energy sources?

Perhaps it wouldn't stall anymore at this point, but in the absence of some other miracle saving the day, Tesla might not have made it to this point.

However I think it is far from obvious that this time the EV "revolution" is going to make it into the mainstream... that will still require a lot of things to happen which won't happen automatically. (And I think it will require Tesla.)

 

[zack]

Any estimate on how much money has been rebated to date, due to the $7500 incentive? Is it even a hundred million yet?

 

[EVNow]

Any estimate on how much money has been rebated to date, due to the $7500 incentive? Is it even a hundred million yet?

20k vehicles @ 7.5k = $150 million.

But hey, this is not the govt paying us. We are just being allowed to keep more of our hard earned money

 

[Norbert]

20k vehicles @ 7.5k = $150 million.

But hey, this is not the govt paying us. We are just being allowed to keep more of our hard earned money

I think it is not just the $, but also the symbolic value associated with it, that says: "you are doing something for your country which is worth giving you several thousands of dollars".

So the anti-EV or anti-gov-influences-market people are countering that by making us feel guilty about taking tax money. But I think it is really worth it, and not that much money for the government. We are probably saving a lot of money by showing the oil-exporting countries that we are working on alternatives, as that keeps them from raising the prices arbitrarily. One gets the impression that the oil price is dictated by a lot of other things than "the market", as in principle, without alternatives such as EVs, we simply depend on it for our economy to work.

 

[Iamthecaliflower]

This caused the drop?

I think you are right. However, this is a huge joke. The amount of money that goes towards subsidizing big oil makes the subsidies for EV look like pocket change. If they end the $7500 subsidy, they doom EV. This has no chance of passing.

 

[vfx]

http://www.plugincars.com/republica...tion-7500-plug-vehicle-tax-credit-111287.html

 

[Trnsl8r]

I'm torn here. I definitely can see where he's being a bit scummy if his ties are in fact true, but at the same time, I'm sort of neutral on gov't subsidies. I think the $7,500 credit definitely helps push EVs forward. Would they stall without it? Not sure... Though, if the gov is going to subsidize oil, why not alternative energy sources?

Be that as it may, he's selling it with falsehoods. Completely forgetting about the Leaf, he's all about crapping on the Volt, calling it a car for the rich "guy that makes $175k per year". Really? Can you show facts on that?

I don't think the rebate makes a big difference to those buying Roadsters, Signatures or Fiskers, but it does help push the entry Model S, Leaf and whatever Ford and others have in store. I'm all for market economy, but sometimes the market needs a little push in the right direction, even though we know it will get there eventually.

And like someone else pointed out, if we should let the market decide, then remove the fossil fuel subsidies as well.

 

[hcsharp]

20k vehicles @ 7.5k = $150 million.

But hey, this is not the govt paying us. We are just being allowed to keep more of our hard earned money

You are assuming every one of those 20k vehicles got the full credit. Many did not. More money is yet to come because the credit isn't scheduled to expire until 2016. And don't forget the generous credits they gave for hybrid cars and clean-burning diesels. The EV credit pales by comparison.

I'm all for a market economy without gov't subsidy but let's be realistic about the externalities here. What is it costing the gov't to deal with all the pollution from the oil that is saved by one EV? Over the long run it's a lot more than 7500 especially if you count the military experiments ultimately designed to protect oil imports. Just another way of looking at oil subsidies...

You will see a lot more of this kind of garbage from politicians because the oil and gas industry is dumping more and more into getting people elected. They have a lot to lose.

 

[NeoDoc]

The corn farmers had a $6B subsidy to jumpstart an industry that was and continues to be energy inefficient. Money talks!

 

[zack]

That's about it.

 

[Cobos]

The thing that would have really upset me is his argument about the oil industry being profitable and that's where your retirement accounts are. The whole point is that if the oil industry is not a profitable business without the subsidies then they are not a sound investment, if they are profitable without then it's just corporate welfare. I thought most republicans were against welfare spending on dubious companies, reference Solyndra. He can't have it both ways as he wants now.

Cobos

 

[zack]

omg republicans are so much about corporate welfare to protect their fake wealth. they invest in everything that destroys the earth. in reality, we are the one thing that will save it all, in the long run, and we know it. WE KNOW IT.

 

[VolkerP]

Isn't canceling a tax credit like raising taxes? Isn't raising taxes something that nearly every Republican politician has vowed (and underwritten) not to do?
OTOH cutting oil subsidies is not raising taxes, but cutting government spending. Isn't that what most Republicans demand the Obama administration to do?

My sorry it is so hard to understand US politics from 5000 miles across the pond :redface:

 

[Todd Burch]

My sorry it is so hard to understand US politics from 5000 miles across the pond :redface:

Don't feel bad. I live 2.5 hours from Washington D.C., read politics every day, and that doesn't help things make any more sense .