Biden needs to pump the breaks on his electric vehicle agenda

Over the past several years, the debate surrounding the future of electric vehicles (EV) has quickly taken Congress — and the country — by storm. While the notion of zero-emission, carbon-neutral vehicles sounds attractive, too many lawmakers, industry leaders and government officials have prioritized an electric agenda over real concerns about the reliability and affordability of a government-mandated, EV transformation for hardworking families. With record inflation crushing family budgets right now, Iowans and Americans cannot afford to buy $50,000 Teslas and other EVs to comply with President Biden’s unrealistic, green agenda that benefits big cities at the expense of our rural communities in America’s heartland. 

Unfortunately, instead of addressing these concerns, Biden signed two executive orders last year mandating an all-out transition to electric vehicles for government-owned passenger cars by 2027 and barring federal agencies from purchasing liquid-fuel vehicles by 2035. Government mandates are not the solution to any problem, especially when it comes to lowering gas prices and protecting our environment.  

As a fiscal hawk and strong supporter of American-made energy, I am particularly worried that the costs far outweigh the benefits of an all-electric future where liquid-fuel powered cars are replaced with vehicles that guzzle electricity — powered by oil, gas and coal — at unsustainable rates. 

For this reason, I introduced legislation last year in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee — where I serve as the top Republican on the Research and Technology Subcommittee — to study the true costs of an immediate, EV transformation in America. My Comparison of Sustainable Transportation (COST) Act would direct the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. secretary of Energy to compare the financial and environmental costs of replacing the entire federal gasoline-powered fleet with either electric vehicles or E-85 capable flex-fuel cars and trucks.  

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2022 Annual Energy Outlook, four out of five new vehicles sold in the United States by 2050 will be powered by liquid fuel. This is a stark reminder that liquid fuel is here to stay despite calls from some of my colleagues for a radical Green New Deal that would impose an electric transformation on American families, destroy America’s thriving agriculture economy and increase energy costs at a time of record inflation.  

Additionally, producing batteries for electric vehicles, on top of the coal-generated power needed to charge them, requires a significant amount of money, energy and nonrenewable resources. Pinch points in our supply chain also pose major challenges to transporting these critical minerals to American manufacturers in a timely manner, emphasizing the urgent need to end our reliance on foreign countries like China for the materials and resources we need to power our nation. Even more concerning, the rare-earth minerals needed to build electric batteries are located in some of the most dangerous and unstable regions of the globe, threatening their availability on the global market and causing input prices to skyrocket.  

Fortunately, Iowa — and the Midwest — can offer a better path forward to lower fuel costs, reduce emissions and secure our nation’s energy independence through the production of homegrown, cost-effective, environmentally friendly biofuels.  

As opposed to fossil fuels that power electric vehicle batteries, biofuels burn cleaner and more efficiently, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while supporting our family farmers in Iowa and nationwide. So, if Biden and Democrats in Congress claim to care about reducing emissions, they should embrace biofuels and their many benefits for our economy, our families and our environment. With inflation and fuel prices surpassing record highs, we should be exploring ways that biofuels can help ease the pain at the pump for American families — not pour billions of taxpayer dollars into costly vehicle electrification efforts.  

I’ve always said that biofuels must be key components of any solution to reduce gas prices for Iowans and end our reliance on foreign oil, minerals and gas. They are a perfect alternative to coal-powered electric vehicle batteries that should be fully considered before wasting billions of dollars on forced vehicle electrification nationwide.   

Ultimately, Congress should not be so fast to adopt electric vehicles as the status quo when E-85 flex-fuel vehicles can provide an even cheaper and cleaner option for Americans when they fill up their cars, trucks and tractors. Even though the Biden administration has turned a blind eye to high gas prices to advance their electric agenda, reducing emissions and lowering the cost of fuel does not need to be mutually exclusive. 

It’s time for President Biden to be a leader and end his war on homegrown American energy so that Iowa ethanol and biodiesel can fuel our country and power the future. 

Randy Feenstra represents Iowa’s 4th District and is a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Science Committee.