Here’s how Biden is muted with Elon Musk
The Biden administration relies on Tesla to guide the reform of the renewable fuel policy despite the disagreements between Elon Musk and the White House. The Reuters report
US President Joe Biden rarely mentions electric car maker Tesla in public. But privately, its administration has leaned on the company to help shape a new policy that would allow electric vehicles (EVs) to benefit from the attractive national subsidies for renewable fuels, according to emails reviewed by Reuters .
The Biden administration contacted Tesla on his first day in office, marking the start of a series of meetings on the topic between federal officials and companies related to the electric vehicle industry in the following months, according to emails.
The administration's early and extensive outreach activity reflects the fact that expanding the scope of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to make it a tool for electrification of the nation's automotive fleet is one of Biden's priorities. in the fight against climate change – writes Reuters .
WHAT IS THE UNITED STATES RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD (RFS)
The RFS, which dates back to 2005, is a federal program that requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels. So far it has mainly been a subsidy for corn-based ethanol.
The White House's contact with Tesla also demonstrates that, despite the public grudge between Biden and Tesla founder Elon Musk, Biden's team has sought from the outset to involve the automaker in one of its major political initiatives. Biden has set a goal of making half of all new vehicles sold carbon neutral in 2030.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the RFS, is expected to present proposed policy changes later in the year, defining new winners and losers in a multi-billion dollar credit market, known as RIN, which has supported corn farmers and biofuel producers for more than a decade.
TOWARDS THE REVIEW OF THE RFS POLICY
Early signs indicate that the administration is moving towards a regulation that benefits automakers like Tesla by giving them maximum access to so-called e-RINS, or electric RINs. According to industry players, however, the reform could also extend subsidies to related sectors, such as car charging companies and landfills that supply renewable biogas to power plants.
"We have heard that auto companies will greatly appreciate this rule," said Maureen Walsh, director of federal policy for the American Biogas Council, speaking at a conference in May. But he added: "We all discarded that pile."
INCLUDE ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE RFS
The idea of including electric vehicles in RFS has been under consideration for years, but it caught on as Biden's transition team turned to electric vehicles as an employment solution to the climate crisis. Transportation is responsible for over a quarter of the United States' greenhouse gas emissions. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The EPA said it is consulting “all interested parties” in its RFS policy review.
The current RFS requires oil refineries to blend ethanol and other biofuels into the fuel pool or to purchase RINs from those who do. This policy has spurred an economic boom in the Farm Belt states.
THE POSITION OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS
But it has also angered environmental groups, who say extra corn production damages land and water and prolongs the era of the internal combustion engine.
Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, expressed disapproval of the e-RIN program. The group believes that RFS is a policy that has failed to increase the production of next-generation low-carbon fuels while harming the environment. The group also believes that the expansion of the program is a slippery slope towards increasing the use of raw materials such as wood and wood waste, which can generate electricity.
“RFS should be reformed to counter homage to dirty corn ethanol. It should not be expanded to include new incentives for industrial agriculture and woody biomass, ”said Lukas Ross, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth.
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED TESLA
On the morning of Biden's presidential inauguration in January 2021, EPA staff Dallas Burkholder sent an email to a prominent Tesla lobbyist, Rohan Patel, to arrange a meeting on how to incorporate electric cars into RFS. according to documents reviewed by Reuters . Documents show that the meeting was set for a week later.
Since then, Biden's EPA has had other meetings on the subject with Tesla, groups representing biogas producers like Waste Management Inc and Republic Services Inc, and charging station companies like ChargePoint Holdings Inc, according to the documents.
According to the emails, the EPA also organized at least one meeting with White House staff members, including climate adviser Ali Zaidi, to discuss the reforms.
The Biden White House has been a staunch supporter of the electric vehicle industry, placing much of its climate hopes on the circulation of more electric cars. The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year included $ 7.5 billion for new electric vehicle charging stations, and Biden sought to restore overdue tax credits to help consumers pay for new vehicles.
However, Tesla CEO Musk has often been at odds with the White House, sending harsh tweets straight to Biden. In February, Biden publicly acknowledged Tesla's role in electric vehicle manufacturing, after Musk repeatedly complained that he was being ignored.
THE DESIRE OF EVERYONE
Tesla is looking to make changes to the RFS that allow it to earn renewable fuel credits based on kilowatt hours driven or similar, according to two sources familiar with the plan. The company has also explored partnerships with biogas producers to have an influence on any market that emerges from the new rule, the sources say.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Members of the car charging industry, meanwhile, are also pushing for a share.
Matthew Nelson, a lobbyist at Electrify America, a commercial group of charging companies, wrote to the EPA in October and said e-RINs would do more than any other policy to meet Biden's 2030 target of 500,000 stations. charging and 50% of EV sales, according to emails. He added that charging companies need the credit to compete with gasoline.
According to data from the Department of Energy, the United States currently has about 48,000 charging stations, concentrated in coastal regions. Biogas producers, like landfills, also want to get credit, claiming to supply renewable fuel to the grid that generates power for electric vehicles.
Electricity derived from biogas is already suitable for generating RIN. But the EPA has never approved an industry request because it has yet to determine how best to trace the source of the energy going into electric vehicles. In 2020, landfill gas generated approximately 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, or 0.3% of the industrial-scale electricity in the United States.
“We believe the implementation of the RFS electricity program aligns well with the Biden administration's climate goals,” Carrie Annand, executive director of the Biomass Power Association, wrote to the EPA, according to the documents.
(Extract from the foreign press review by Epr Comunicazione)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/ecco-come-in-sordina-biden-si-intende-con-il-patron-di-tesla-elon-musk/ on Sun, 26 Jun 2022 05:46:02 +0000.