CALSTART Media Contact: Sasha Tenenbaum, stenenbaum@calstart.org, 917-887-0146

In a 51 to 50 vote today, the Senate narrowly passed a tax-and-spending bill (H.R. 1), capping many intense days of dealmaking. The vote now sends the legislation back to the House for passage.

In response to this news, President and CEO, John Boesel, said:

“Today, the Senate voted to undermine American jobs by sharply scaling back vital clean transportation tax credits. Provisions of the legislation passed directly threaten economic and job growth in states across the country—while maintaining subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, which will lead to more pollution and costly climate disasters.

“In the past two and a half years, thousands of companies invested more than $125 billion in U.S. clean transportation manufacturing—investments made in good faith, based on the promise of stable federal policy through 2032 under the Inflation Reduction Act. Today’s vote breaks that commitment and puts American workers and manufacturers at a disadvantage, just as global competitors accelerate the transition toward a zero-emission transportation economy.

“CALSTART will continue working alongside our partners and lawmakers to advance forward-looking policies that reduce pollution, grow the economy, and strengthen America’s global competitiveness. We will not allow shortsighted politics to derail progress toward a cleaner, stronger domestic transportation future.

“While today’s vote represents a serious setback, the industry must—and will—persevere.  The United States can and should lead the world in building a strong and prosperous transportation sector to move people and goods in ways that are far better for the economy and planet.”

BACKGROUND:
According to the EV Jobs Hub, there are nearly 550 manufacturing facilities in the United States supporting the EV industry, which employ at least 228,000 workers and have brought more than $207 billion in investment into the U.S. economy. Repealing the IRA undermines the business case for many of these projects and directly imperil 130,000 American auto manufacturing jobs by 2030, according to independent analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation. This later resource explores the 15 states with the most American jobs at risk.

About CALSTART
A mission-driven industry organization focused on transportation decarbonization and clean air for all, CALSTART has offices in New York, Michigan, Colorado, California, Florida, and Europe. CALSTART is uniquely positioned to build the national clean transportation industry by working closely with its more than 240 member companies and building on the lessons learned from the major programs it manages for the State of California. CALSTART manages more than $1 billion in vehicle incentive and technical assistance programs in the United States and is leading a global effort to build the zero-emission commercial vehicle market.