Last week, two prominent Congressional Democrats released an outline of a "Green New Deal" that they hope will spur discussion and even commitment to eliminating fossil-fuel use.
The Resolution picked up support from a wide range of other Democrats in Congress, while others expressed caution.
The deal would require the U.S. to eliminate all fossil-fuel use by 2030 and replace it with renewable power to reduce global warming emissions. It also lays out a host of other political and social goals more loosely related to clean energy, but tied to climate change. Those goals include preparing populations for the effects of climate change with better education for disadvantaged people and preparing cities for the mass migrations likely to result from coastal flooding.
MUST READ: Green New Deal introduced to Congress aims to cut emissions, create jobs
It also aims to build a base of green technology knowledge and manufacturing in the U.S.
We thought the resolution was a good opportunity to ask our readers what effect they think such an effort might have.
Our Twitter poll question for this week is, "What effect to you expect the Green New Deal to have for electric cars?"
What effect to you expect the Green New Deal to have for electric cars?
— Green Car Reports (@GreenCarReports) February 11, 2019
Among the possibilities could be:
- A national EV mandate. Certainly this would serve the resolution's goals of developing a renewable energy industrial base in the U.S., reducing energy consumption, and providing a steady market for renewable energy. California and nine other states already require some electric car sales, so it's not such a stretch to think such a mandate could spread nationwide.
- Moderately more electric-car sales. Even without a mandate, more funding for electric cars (whether for extended purchase tax credits, industrial loans for battery manufacturing, or scientific projects to develop more advanced batteries), could make electric cars more capable and more affordable, which could increase sales even without a national mandate.
DON'T MISS: Wind and solar cost less than coal for power
- Cleaner electric power. This is the most direct goal of the new resolution, which would require the U.S. to rely 100 percent on renewable electricity by 2030. It isn't mutually exclusive to more electric cars (and in fact would support that goal. But it might (or might not) be more likely to result from a new green initiative in Congress.
- None. It's also possible that the proposal so overreaches that it won't gain significant support in Congress or could even trigger a backlash by fossil-fuel interests.
We'd be interested in hearing what outcome our readers think is most likely. So click on over to the poll, and let us know. As always, remember that our Twitter polls are unscientific, because our sample size is usually too low, and our respondents are self-selected.
