Friends,

In this week’s edition of The Charge, we look at President Biden’s latest truck and tailpipe mandates and a new documentary on climate change. Rupert Darwall of RealClear Energy appears on “The Power Hour” podcast alongside Heritage senior research fellow Mario Loyola to discuss Europe’s failing “green” energy policies. Our “Ask the Experts” series features Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of CECE, who responds to New York City’s counterproductive plan to reduce traffic congestion. In “The Regulatory Crusade,” we feature retired U.S. Navy Captain and senior research fellow at Heritage Brent Sadler to address the national security implications of the recent bridge collapse in the Baltimore harbor.

The CECE Team

(Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment)

The Charge is edited by Andrew Weiss

For more information, please contact us at CECE.info@heritage.org.

For media inquiries, please contact heritagepress@heritage.org. 

Q: What is New York City’s plan to address road congestion?

A: Starting in June, unless legal challenges prevail, drivers will pay $15 per day to enter Manhattan’s Central Business District below 60th Street between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends. Taxis are exempt from the $15 daily charge, but passengers will pay an additional $1.25 per trip to the city, with ride sharerers paying an additional $2.50 charge per trip during the stated times.

Proponents say that the tax will improve the air quality, reduce congestion, and fund public transit. The reality is that it will hurt the elderly and poor people and will contribute to the flight from the city.

And a congestion tax doesn’t necessarily reduce traffic jams. London’s congestion charge has been in place for more than 20 years, yet London ranks top in the world for traffic delays.

Giving a ride to an elderly person to go to a doctor’s appointment, or picking up a parent in the congestion zone to go to your house in New Jersey for lunch, will now cost an extra $15—every time. Public transit doesn’t go everywhere, and some senior citizens find it hard to navigate the stairs in the stations.

If the Big Apple truly wanted to reduce congestion, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) could reduce some of the lightly used bike lanes and bike docking stations that have been placed in the roadways.

Rather than solve its problems, the MTA prefers a new tax that it disguises as a congestion charge. But people don’t like to be without their cars. This tax will be counterproductive and drive more New Yorkers to Florida, Texas, and other low-tax states—increasing the death spiral of the city and the transit system.

(Adapted from National Review article.)

—Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment

EPA’s Tailpipe Emissions Rule Rides Roughshod Over Our Freedoms

In their latest Washington Times article, policy analyst Miles Pollard and Laura Gorceac, an intern with Heritage’s Young Leaders Program, argue that the EPA’s latest tailpipe emissions rule will force automakers to shift production from gasoline-powered vehicles and hybrids to electric vehicles [EVs]: “The EPA estimates that the average cost of America’s bestselling SUVs and light trucks will increase by over $8,000 by 2032. The total cost of adopting these strict standards will likely be even greater.”

The EPA’s emissions standards not only disregard the current limitations of EVs but also fail to consider the massive investments needed to support an electrified car fleet.

In fact, according to a Roland Berger study, electrical utilities would need to invest $370 billion in grid upgrades and $620 billion in new electric vehicles and charging infrastructure to support an electrified medium and heavy trucking industry. This trillion-dollar investment is unfeasible as the Biden administration’s $7.5 billion EV charger program to build 500,000 chargers in five years has built only eight chargers as of last December to serve EVs on interstate highways.

For context, the 2023 ratio of new cars was roughly 84% combustion engine, 8% hybrid, 2% plug-in hybrid and 7% electric. By 2027, the EPA’s moderate forecast under its emission requirements would be 62% combustion engine, 4% hybrid, 10% plug-in hybrid and 24% electric. By 2032, its moderate forecast would force Americans to buy 22% combustion engine, 6% hybrid, 29% plug-in hybrid and 43% electric.

Read the full article here.

New Documentary’s “Cold Truth” About Climate

In a recent article for The Daily Signal, research assistant Andrew Weiss showcases a new documentary that emphasizes the crucial role of clean, reliable, and resilient energy in improving living standards across the globe:

Wealthy countries built their economic resilience on coal, oil, and gas. Denying the same benefit to poor countries for the sake of hypothetical climate risk is immoral….

The documentary shows that the goal of energy policy should be to provide clean, reliable, and resilient power to raise standards of living, both in America and overseas.

Contrary to claims made by some climate activists, America has not experienced an increase in the number or intensity of hurricanes since official records began in the mid-19th century, before the Civil War. See the table below. Policymakers are nonetheless rushing to implement aggressive emissions cuts and renewable energy mandates that prioritize green energy, but raise costs and result in more blackouts.

The more an electric grid relies on intermittent sources of energy, such as wind and solar generation, the more vulnerable it becomes to blackouts….

By all means, let’s use renewable technologies as they become reliable and cost-effective, including nuclear energy. Attempting to legislate an accelerated transition is a recipe for disaster when reality collides with wishful thinking.

Protecting human life and well-being has to be our top priority. That’s the firm foundation on which all environmental progress depends.

Read the full article here.

Americans Face Higher Costs Under the EPA’s Electric Truck Mandate

In her latest article for The Daily Signal, CECE director Diana Furchtgott-Roth discusses the EPA’s new rule requiring that 25 percent of truck sales be electric by 2032:

Practically everything Americans use comes by truck, either all the way from the producer or from ports or railroad terminals. That’s why, if electric truck and charging technology existed, EPA’s new rule would raise costs of everything Americans buy, resulting in higher prices for goods and services and inflationary pressures throughout the economy.

Trucking and utility companies would have to invest almost $1 trillion in charging infrastructure before electric trucks could be operational. EPA’s goals either will have to be discarded or moved steadily into the future.

The electric truck rule follows regulations released last month that would require 70% of cars and light trucks, such as pickup trucks, to be electric by 2032. Both these rules will face court challenges on the grounds that EPA exceeded its authority.

EPA’s massive project to reshape America’s transportation system would lower economic growth and increase the budget deficit as manufacturers attempt to comply with regulations and use green tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act to waste resources investing in products that are unsuited to companies’ needs.

Read the full article here.

Europe’s Failing “Green” Energy Policies and What We Can Learn

Host Jack Spencer is joined today by Rupert Darwall and Power Hour regular, Mario Loyola, to discuss Darwall’s latest report, The Folly of Climate Leadership: Net Zero and Britain’s Disastrous Energy Policies. Darwall provides facts and numbers, with charts and graphs, to demonstrate the real effect of climate alarmism. Together, they provide the information and arguments that you need to understand exactly what is happening in Europe and why we need to fight climate alarmist policies in the U.S. (or wherever you live!).

Of the more than 80,000 ships arriving at American ports each year, fewer than 200 are     U.S.-flagged, -owned, and -crewed. The Department of Defense concluded in its 2020     Mobility Capabilities Requirement Study that in a war there would be insufficient U.S.-       flagged tanker capacity to meet defense requirements, necessitating enduring need for     foreign-flag tankers.

Making matters worse, a fractured domestic energy logistic network makes getting fuel to     where it is needed tenuous. For instance, New England has almost no pipeline     connectivity to domestic sources, and the existing pipelines are maxed out.

Our ports are the gateway to the nation’s prosperity and security and are an integral part of     a strategically important maritime industrial sector. Safeguarding our ports necessarily     means bolstering our maritime resilience against attack as well as against supply chain     disruptions, man-made or by an act of God. Doing this will require a national maritime     initiative that:

• Provides an adequate U.S.-flagged commercial shipping fleet to sustain the nation in a        major war; augmented by treaty ally shipping as required.

• Expands shipbuilding and repair capacities and associated workforce to mitigate over        reliance on China or non-friendly nations.

• Hardens maritime infrastructure and shipping to cyberattack and material damage.