Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Electric Vehicles, Labor Unions, and Climate Hypocrisy

by March 22, 2024
March 22, 2024
Electric Vehicles, Labor Unions, and Climate Hypocrisy

David Kemp

A Washington Post article this week observes that oil industry executives celebrated huge profits in the wake of an international agreement to transition away from fossil fuels to reach net‐​zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) held in Dubai at the end of last year, nations agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels.” The Post notes that, “three months later, it appears that some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies did not get the memo. At an energy conference [in Houston] their leaders struck a much different tone, predicting that fossil fuels will continue to power the global economy well into the future.”

The article goes on to quote oil industry leaders who praised the Dubai agreement but still predict that oil and gas will play an important role in any energy transition and notes that US oil production is hitting record highs while global oil demand continues to increase.

Meanwhile, on the same day the Washington Post also reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles. The rules are the most stringent tailpipe emissions standards ever set, but are less stringent than initially proposed last year. The EPA estimated that the original rule would require 67 percent of new vehicles to be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2032, compared to only 5.8 percent in 2022.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) opposed the rule. A shift to EVs was one of the UAW’s complaints during their strike last year. As the Post reported, “The union has been wary of EVs because they generally require fewer workers to assemble than gasoline‐​powered vehicles, and because many EV plants are being built in Southern states less friendly to unions.” The UAW actually withheld their endorsement of President Biden over their worries about the EPA’s proposed rule. So the EPA decided to slow down the reduction in emissions and therefore the adoption of EVs.

Delaying the requirements is a marginally positive result. The goals of the tailpipe rule are overly ambitious and the cost‐​benefit analysis likely overstates the benefits.

But the juxtaposition of the two articles still highlights the hypocrisy of environmental advocates and politicians. Both the goals of transitioning away from fossil fuels by 2050 and increasing EV usage are potential examples of what Peter Van Doren notes is a consistent feature of environmental legislation and regulations: “policy beyond capability.” As he described in a blog post about the original version of the tailpipe emissions regulations,

The history of environmental regulation consists of ambitious unrealistic goals followed by missed deadlines and lack of enforcement. The most ambitious unrealistic goal was the California legislative proposal in 1970 to ban the internal combustion engine by 1975. The California State Senate approved the bill while floor consideration in the Assembly failed by one vote. The 1970 national Clean Air Act required ambient air quality standards be achieved by 1975. The deadlines were extended many times. By 2005, of the 338 deadlines set by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 only 37 had been met by the deadline specified in the statute.

These two cases also show how unrealistic policies are not applied consistently. Concessions to labor unions over electric vehicles are considered an acceptable political sacrifice, even though President Biden characterized the “climate crisis” as an “existential threat” in his recent State of the Union address, whereas the oil industry’s assertion that fossil fuels will remain important in the future and continuing high profits are seen as undermining the COP28 goal of achieving net‐​zero by phasing out fossil fuels.

Whether climate change is a catastrophe or, more realistically, a potential problem that requires a rational and sober response, policies to reduce emissions should be realistic and applied uniformly. When concessions are given to one party’s constituents, other groups, such as oil companies, workers in oil and gas fields, and consumers worried about high prices on their favorite cars, will wonder where their concessions are.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Call for Proposals: Junior Scholars Symposium 2024
next post
The Stock Market This Week: What This Surging Bull Means

You may also like

New Shipping Fees and Requirements Pose Fresh Threat...

May 19, 2025

SCOTUS Decision Against Religious Charter Is Right, But...

May 22, 2025

Missouri AG Investigates Private Group’s Advocacy

December 18, 2023

What Does Biden Plan for the Tax Code?

March 12, 2024

Trade in Real Life: How the FDA Burns...

July 3, 2023

The Rational Basis Test Is an Unconstitutional Kludge

February 27, 2025

Lawmakers Seek To Overrule Cops’ Medical Decision and...

November 3, 2023

2023 Was a Record Year for Public Schooling...

January 3, 2024

The Government Uses “Standing” Doctrine to Evade Judicial...

April 22, 2025

The Misleading Correlation Between Teen Vaping and Teen...

October 18, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Blue state Republicans threaten rebellion if Senate changes key provision in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 5, 2025
    • Ricketts, Fetterman team up for crackdown on China’s attempts to purchase US farmland

      June 5, 2025
    • Hamas working to ‘sabotage’ Trump-backed aid group with ‘fake news’: Israeli official

      June 5, 2025
    • Longtime Trump loyalist flips on GOP’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 5, 2025
    • Supreme Court rules Wisconsin unconstitutionally discriminated against Christian charity

      June 5, 2025
    • Trump touts ‘very positive’ breakthrough with Xi after slamming China for trade violation

      June 5, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,147)
    • Investing (2,008)
    • Politics (15,529)
    • Stocks (3,128)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved