https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/big-oil-vs-electric-cars-carbon-tax-would-level-playing-field#gs.yPT11yc Big Oil Doesn't Like EV Subsidies, Just Its Own Giant Subsidy November 19 2018 Liam Denning
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- You may not have heard, but electric vehicles are just another one-percenter boondoggle, Jay Gatsby’s cream-colored Rolls Royce reincarnated and partly paid for by you, the toiling masses, via various subsidies. As an argument, it is tailor-made for an era of anger at “elites.” And it’s one with which I’ve become familiar reading recent letters from organizations such as Koch Industries Inc.[ https://news.kochind.com/media-resources/On-The-Issues/Koch-Urges-Senate-to-Allow-Innovation-and-Consumer ], affiliates of the American Petroleum Institute and Americans For Prosperity [ https://www.icc.illinois.gov/Electricity/workshops/evnoi.aspx ], urging federal and state bodies to forgo support for electric vehicles or their chargers. If wealthier types wish to buy them, so be it, but they should pay for it themselves. As Koch’s letter opposing an extension of the federal tax credit for EVs puts it: " I encourage you to allow innovation and consumer choice to drive this industry, not tax dollars and government subsidies. " Stirring stuff, though it does rather gloss over some niggling details. They aren’t wrong about one thing: Subsidies for EVs tend to accrue to the wealthy. A paper [ http://ei.haas.berkeley.edu/research/papers/WP262.pdf ] published in 2015 by Severin Borenstein and Lucas Davis of UC Berkeley found exactly that. One explanation is that, even when subsidized, today’s EVs are usually more expensive than regular vehicles, so they are bought by wealthier people. This is clearly unfair. However, as Berkeley’s Borenstein and Davis wrote in a blog post summarizing that same paper: " We find that tax credits are less attractive on distributional grounds than pricing [greenhouse gases] directly … Whereas tax credits go disproportionately to high-income households, a carbon tax would be paid disproportionately by high-income households. " This uncovers the main problem with the whole elitist EVs argument: If not these subsidies, then what? Addressing climate change means encouraging a switch away from emitting vast quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in order to power our societies. Leaving aside the unfortunate desire of certain parties to ignore or obfuscate the science [ https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-09-13/big-oil-and-climate-change-losing-the-30-years-war ] framing that threat, the central question is how to encourage that switch most efficiently. In general, handing out regressive subsidies based on the government elevating this or that technology, while perhaps politically more doable, doesn’t meet that objective. A far-more efficient method is to put a price on the stuff you want less of and then let capitalism do its thing, pushing consumption away from the undesirables and investment toward innovative alternatives. Indeed, all these letters demand government officials stand back and let the market do its thing – except their version of the market leaves out one essential element. Greenhouse gases and the threat they pose are everyone’s problem, but the individual generating them at any given moment doesn’t pay toward dealing with that. Dump your garbage on your neighbor’s lawn and you’ll wind up paying to have it removed and probably a fine, too. Release 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning a gallon of gasoline, and it’s a freebie. This is an enormous effective subsidy for fossil fuels and makes a mockery of market piety. Using Yale economist and recent Nobel-prize winner William Nordhaus’s [ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-08/nordhaus-romer-win-2018-nobel-prize-in-economic-sciences ] $31-per-tonne estimate of the social cost of carbon, it amounted last year to $107 billion for energy-related emissions from oil and natural gas in the U.S. Within that, emissions from transportation – the biggest source in the U.S. and the only one still growing – enjoyed a free ride worth $59 billion. The cost of the federal tax subsidy for EVs is $2 billion at most across the lifetime of the current program, according to a study cited in the Koch letter (title: “Costly Subsidies For The Rich [ https://www.pacificresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CarSubsidies_final_web.pdf ]”). You may have noticed, too, the U.S. oil and gas industry is not exactly hard up. A quick scan of the Bloomberg Terminal indicates listed companies in the sector are forecast to make a collective net profit of $81 billion this year. What was that about handouts to wealthy elites again? The added twist is that the negative effects of climate change fall disproportionately on the poor. Low-income countries tend to be in regions likely to suffer the worst consequences and also lack adequate resources to deal with them (see this [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2017/09/19/world-economic-outlook-october-2017#Chapter%203 ] from the International Monetary Fund) ... But the API’s call for the creation of “a level playing field” between internal combustion engines and EVs is risible. It never grapples with the fact that the lack of a penalty for carbon emissions is the single biggest obstacle to a level playing field, and precisely why officials trying to deal with climate change resort instead to sub-optimal workarounds like subsidies. This isn’t a plea for more of those; far from it. Instead, consider it an addendum to those missives on the sanctity of markets, merely pointing out the one vital element the authors of the letters somehow forgot to include. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities. He previously was editor of the Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column and wrote for the Financial Times' Lex column. He was also an investment banker. [© 2018 Bloomberg L.P. bloombergquint.com] ... https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/big-oil-doesn-t-like-electric-vehicle-subsidies-just-its-own-giant-subsidy-118112000060_1.html Big oil doesn't like electric vehicle subsidies, just its own giant subsidy November 20, 2018 Today's EVs are usually more expensive ... so they are bought by wealthier people You may not have heard, but electric vehicles are just another one-percenter boondoggle ... partly paid for by ... various subsidies ... https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/img/article/2018-05/12/full/1526142957-6946.jpg % I normally do not post anti-EV items. The following were likely paid for out of the Koch Bros' anti-EV campaign $M$ (btw, this is only a whiff of the anti-EV sewage I have to daily wade through to get the few pro-EV items I find) % [dated] https://reason.com/blog/2018/09/19/eliminate-federal-electric-vehicle-subsi We Should Eliminate Federal Electric Vehicle Subsidies for Rich People Sep. 19, 2018 The Feds did, however, limit the these tax outlays by putting a cap of 200,000 vehicles that can be subsidized by each manufacturer. EVs manufactured by Tesla and General Motors are on the verge of no ... https://www.euractiv.com/section/electricity/interview/eu-official-rich-people-win-most-from-regulated-energy-tariffs/ EU official: Rich people win most from regulated energy tariffs Nov 15, 2018 EU official: Rich people win most from regulated energy tariffs ... respond with their own production, batteries or demand from electric vehicles in a way that helps ... https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/11/the-cost-of-ev-adoption-just-6-trillion/ The Cost of EV Adoption? Just $6 Trillion Nov 13, 2018 Alternative fuel advocates often suggest that if society could simply get the lead out on solving the infrastructure problem, electric vehicle adoption would reach ... https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/nissan-leaf-charging-electric-car.jpg https://www.ecowatch.com/koch-electric-vehicles-tax-credit-2619368336.html Koch Industries Lobbies Against Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Nov 12, 2018 The PRI study, "Costly Subsidies for the Rich: Quantifying the Subsidies Offered to Battery Electric Powered Cars," emphasizes that "the majority of the dollar ... https://resize.rbl.ms/simage/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.rbl.ms%2F18823239%2Forigin.jpg/1200%2C630/inbNscsT0CBA4%2Flz/img.jpg http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2015/10/11/no-rich-white-guy-left-behind-the-selling-of-electric-cars-as-zero-emission-vehicles/ No Rich White Guy Left Behind: The Selling of Electric Cars as Zero Emission Vehicles October 11, 2015 That’s certainly one way to look at it. Some good news? California has a proposal to end tax breaks for rich white guys when they buy electric vehicles. Why not break out the bubbly just yet? It impac... https://www.worldcoal.com/power/19112018/new-research-suggests-energy-revolution-will-create-a-divide-in-britains-economy/ New research suggests ‘energy revolution’ will create a divide in Britain’s economy 19 November 2018 ... local policies and average household income have resulted in more affluent regions ... It is also cheaper, on average, to own an electric car in London than in any ... the exemption of electric vehicles (EV) from London's Congestion Charge ... http://archive.kuow.org/post/challenging-idea-electric-vehicles-are-rich Challenging The Idea That Electric Vehicles Are For The Rich Jun 20, 2017 A Portland family tests out a new pilot electric car sharing program in the Cully neighborhood. Courtesy of Forth Poor people spend more of their income on gas and transportation and their neighborhoo... http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/styles/placed_wide/nprshared/201706/533734464.jpg https://finance.yahoo.com/news/government-electric-car-subsidies-costly-133500607.html Government Electric Car Subsidies Are 'Costly Subsidies for the Rich', Finds New Study February 13, 2018 99 Percent of Total Tax Credits Go to Households with $50K+ Incomes SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Generous, taxpayer-funded subsidies for electric car purchases have become just another ... https://global.handelsblatt.com/companies/electric-cars-blackouts-german-cities-878678 Electric cars pose blackout threat to German cities January 24, 2018 Electric cars will pose a risk of blackouts, first in affluent exurbs of cities like Munich, Frankfurt or Berlin and then later nationwide. It’s cold comfort that other countries face the same problem ... https://global.handelsblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/22-p16-More-e-cars-more-outages-01.png https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/shenanigans/silly-subsidy-2018-11/ Silly Subsidy 13th November 2018 It turns out that companies have been claiming government subsidies of up to £4,500 apiece on hybrid cars but haven’t used the electric engine. The subsidy propelled the UK to become Europe’s biggest ... https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/the-6-trillion-barrier-holding-back-electric-cars The $6-trillion barrier holding back electric cars November 5, 2018 Electric vehicle sales rose 55 percent in the country ... the transition costs will have to be reduced through government sub... https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/dunning/bob-dunning-if-you-drive-a-hybrid-theyll-tax-the-street/ Bob Dunning: If you drive a hybrid, they'll tax the street … Oct 30, 2018 Critics claim electric cars are important assets in the fight against pollution and global ... The rule applies to rich and poor alike, whether they're driving a Cadillac ... https://insideevs.com/electric-cars-becoming-must-have-rich-famous/ Electric Cars Are Becoming A Must-Have For The Rich & Famous JUN 29 2018 Once seen as the domain of tech geeks and tree huggers, electric cars have transformed into the new, must-have accessory for the rich and famous. Hannah Elliott reports (via Bloomberg), “When marketin... (Bentley EXP 6e) https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0196/5170/files/DLF_7634_grande.jpg?v=1523719709 https://www.bloombergquint.com/technology/oil-demand-for-cars-and-transportation-is-already-falling#gs.cNL3Jjg Oil Demand for Cars Is Already Falling Nov 16, 2018 Add in the much smaller displacement from electric cars, and there's 279,000 ... only endorsed environmental, social and governance goals once they got rich ... https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iDkRf.c_tyow/v1/760x-1.png https://community.oilprice.com/topic/4012-could-evs-become-cheaper-than-ice-cars-by-2023/ Could EVs Become Cheaper than ICE Cars by 2023? Nov 6, 2018 As a result sales are either to the concerned rich (most of Tesla's customers to ..... European electric vehicles are by far at a much more advanced level than ... https://s3.amazonaws.com/community.oilprice.com/monthly_2018_11/image.png.47f716a5e6b3c3a7280c12ef8a71e9a6.png (+more) For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
