Biden, Not Trump Is Right on the Autoworkers’ Strike and Electric Vehicles
By Paul Bledsoe
Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican Party, seemingly devoid of original policy ideas themselves, have tried to make Joe Biden’s advocacy of incentives for U.S. production of electric vehicles (EVs) a campaign issue in the midst of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike over higher pay and improved benefits. But the truth is that President Biden’s efforts to deliver large EV incentives for American car buyers and U.S. automakers are our best hope so far for the U.S. to outcompete China in the domestic and global auto market and to save American jobs.
It is the automakers themselves and, increasingly, consumers who are switching to EVs, for the obvious reason that EVs are already much cheaper to operate than gasoline-power cars, and very soon, they are expected to be far cheaper to manufacture and purchase than gasoline vehicles. EVs are the future of the auto industry, and Biden is making sure America will be ready for the decades ahead.
In contrast, when he was in office, former President Trump did seemingly nothing to help the auto industry, its workers or consumers. In fact, Trump rolled back protections that would have extended time-and-half overtime pay to millions more workers. And in a betrayal of the UAW and Michigan workers, Trump suggested that auto plants in Michigan move to other states.
Trump’s entire approach to energy and the auto sector was to cozy up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the Saudi royal family, even as they jacked up oil prices, and apparently hope they’d be merciful when making the next decision on cutting supply.
In contrast to Trump’s false accusations, U.S. oil and gas production under Biden has been strong, higher than under Trump, helping keep oil and gasoline prices relatively low for most of his term, even as the Russians and Saudis cut production to increase their profits. But in the long run, U.S. consumers and the American economy will be much stronger as EVs ramp down oil dependence, reducing costs and vulnerability to oil price shocks.
“Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” said UAW President Shawn Fain in a statement. “We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding [of] what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.”
Of course, it’s not just Michigan that is gaining from new investments in EVs. Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas and many other states around the country are benefitting, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
EVs are better for air quality, reducing pollution and related ailments like asthma. EVs also emit less carbon dioxide than gasoline cars in all 50 states, with reductions from a low of 30% in West Virginia to nearly 90% cleaner in Washington State, so EVs help slow climate change.
While it is true that EVs have far fewer parts than gasoline engines, it is not clear that this transition in the industry will mean fewer workers in the long run. What is more likely is that jobs will move to different parts of the supply chain, which is why it’s important — as Biden has noted — that the U.S. gain greater control over key EV battery minerals and processing that are crucial for EV manufacturing. More broadly, Biden understands that unions are still important to driving the pay for all workers higher. “The middle class built this country,” Biden told striking workers on Tuesday. “And unions built the middle class. That’s a fact.”
In stunning contrast, in a rambling speech last week, Trump absurdly predicted that the U.S. auto industry was doomed, despite record earnings. “It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference what you (autoworkers) get because in two years you’re all going to be out of business.” Trump’s fundamental ignorance and indifference about a key part of the U.S. economy and manufacturing sector should be a warning to not just all autoworkers, but all American workers. Trump is showing that he apparently doesn’t care about or understand the real economy or average workers. It’s time American workers — and voters — wake up to Trump’s dangerous charade, before it’s too late.
Paul Bledsoe is strategic adviser at the Progressive Policy Institute and professorial lecturer at American University’s Center for Environmental Policy. He worked as a staff member in the U.S. House, Senate, Interior Department and White House Climate Change Task Force under President Clinton.
This story originally ran in the Messenger on October 3, 2023.
