Kudlow calls for end to subsidies for electric cars, renewables

White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Monday the Trump administration will seek to end subsidies for electric cars and renewable energy sources, according to reports.

Kudlow said he expected subsidies for electric cars would end by 2020 or 2021.

“We want to end, we will end those subsidies and others of the Obama administration,” he said, according to Bloomberg.

It’s unclear how the administration plans to cut the tax credits, since Congress enacted them and would have to act to end them.

{mosads}Electric car buyers currently get tax credits of $7,500 per vehicle. But that phases out as each company sells 200,000 cars — a level that a handful of companies, including General Motors, are approaching.

Utilities also get tax credits for producing wind power and for installing solar power equipment. Those incentives, enacted before former President Obama took office, are on track to phase out in the coming years.

The remarks were made in response to a question about what the administration would do about GM’s plans to layoff 15,000 people and shutter five plants across North America.

The company’s plans have sparked outrage in Washington from both parties.

President Trump last week floated cutting GM’s subsidies for electric vehicles and raising auto tariffs to punish the company if it cuts jobs in the U.S.

Conservatives have pushed back against subsidies and other policies meant to promote renewables over traditional sources. Democrats, though, are calling for a Green New Deal that would transition the country to 100 percent renewable energy for electricity to deal with climate change.

The White House has also pushed back against the United Nation’s recent climate assessments which urge dramatic government intervention into the economy to stave off what the U.N. says in an impending environmental disaster.

The U.S. was the only country at the Group of 20 summit over the weekend not to sign onto the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Updated at 4:30 p.m.