After weeks of pressure stemming from his performance in a televised presidential debate against incumbent Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, President Biden made the surprising announcement on July 21 that he would not seek reelection.
In the same announcement, the president endorsed current Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party nomination. She also has the support of other key lawmakers in Congress and the governors of several key states.
Related: Here's what's happening with Biden's $96 million campaign fund
With the 2024 Democratic National Convention taking place in Chicago, Illinois, from August 19-22, many questions will be asked about his record and his positions on key policy issues will be scrutinized by the world's political pundits and cable news networks.
One key issue, however, the adoption of electric vehicles, has been a political bogeyman for Trump and is also part of Harris's broader position on the environment and climate change.
Harris's battle against climate change
Prior to serving as Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris served as a U.S. Senator representing California and was also the state's attorney general. In both roles, she took a strong stance against fossil fuels and other drivers of climate change.
During her tenure as California Attorney General from 2011 to 2017, Harris's office Oil giant Exxon Mobil under investigation (XOM) on his handling of knowledge about the impact of fossil fuels on climate change and whether his public statements violated securities laws and other environmental protections.
In addition, in 2016, Harris filed a lawsuit against one of the world's largest car manufacturers, Volkswagen, for its involvement in the infamous “Dieselgate” scandal. The scandal was a downfall for the German carmaker as it revolved around the use of so-called “defeat devices” installed in its cars to fraudulently pass diesel emissions tests.
According ReutersThe automaker was ordered to pay $86 million to the Attorney General's office, on top of a previous $14.7 billion settlement with U.S. officials.
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As a U.S. senator, Harris was an early adopter of the Green New Deal. Written by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Conn.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the controversial legislation was a nonbinding agreement that would guide the U.S. toward using 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2030.
The climate proposal The checklist included an overhaul of U.S. transportation systems “to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” including investments in “zero-emission vehicles and alternative non-motorized modes of transportation, infrastructure, and manufacturing.” The checklist also called for job guarantees and a national health care system.
During her first attempt as a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris captured much of the same energy as part of her “People’s Climate Plan,” a $10 trillion “investment” to “achieve a clean economy by 2045.”
According BallotpediaHis campaign website said the plan aimed to accelerate “the spread of electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines” and make major investments “in battery storage, climate-smart agriculture, advanced manufacturing and the breakthrough technologies that will build our carbon-free future.”
With such a plan in place, the goal was to achieve “100 percent carbon-neutral electricity” and “zero-emission buses, heavy-duty vehicles, and vehicle fleets.” Additionally, Harris called for a “climate pollution fee” targeting entities known to emit greenhouse gases and emphasized that enforcement and prosecution of fossil fuel entities would be strengthened with Harris in the White House.
Additionally, in a statement made at a CNN climate change forum in 2020, Harris said she opposes fracking and offshore oil drilling.
While some of these policies seem far-fetched, Harris’ tenure as vice president indicates she would be a driving force behind some of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies that are already making progress in shaping the future of the auto industry.
On May 6, Vice President Harris announced the administration’s $100 million investment for small and mid-sized auto parts suppliers to upgrade their facilities for electric vehicle production.
According to the White HouseA large portion of the funding is intended to “keep good, good-paying, union jobs in the same communities as automakers and auto suppliers transition to electric vehicle manufacturing here in the United States,” while the rest is set aside to improve “their facilities' energy and materials efficiency, supplier cybersecurity or productivity, or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
However, not all of the Biden-Harris administration's plans have borne ripe fruit yet. In March 2024, The Washington Post reported that the Administration's $7.5 billion plan to build electric vehicle chargers has only produced seven chargers in four states since Congress passed the bill in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
Biden has promised to build 500,000 stations nationwide by 2030, but lawmakers from both parties expressed doubts in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“We are deeply concerned that, thanks to your efforts, American taxpayer dollars are being mismanaged,” wrote Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.). “The problems with these programs continue to mount: delays in delivery of shippers, concerns from states about labor hiring requirements and minimum operating standards for shippers.”
Support for the industry
In addition to support from lawmakers, Vice President Harris has also received praise from an important ally.
in a statement On July 21, shortly after the president's announcement, the United Auto Workers union praised Biden for “passing the torch to a new generation.” The union also praised Vice President Kamala Harris for walking “on the picket line with us in 2019 and, together with President Biden, has brought work and jobs back to communities like Lordstown, Ohio, and Belvidere, Illinois.”
“That is the legacy that President Biden leaves behind and that is the work we will continue to do as a union.”
