Some WA electric vehicles programs suspended by Trump administration

The Washington State Department of Transportation stands to lose $102 million in federal grant money earmarked to install chargers for electric vehicles (EV) on highways across the state after a directive issued by the Trump Administration and the Federal Highway Administration Thursday for state transportation directors to suspend their parts of the $5 billion federal program.

Chargers for electric vehicles approved by Biden

President Biden originally approved the EV charger program. Trump, who cited the EV program as an example of Biden’s “Green New Deal,” suspended other Transportation Department programs until the spring when he said he would roll out new guidelines.

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In response, Barbara LaBoe, deputy communications director for the WSDOT, told the Seattle Times they were still seeking more information about the suspension. She also told the Times that the state does not have any outstanding invoices from the federal government and will hold off on making any future spending decisions regarding project awards or grants.

Electric vehicles did not cut carbon emissions as much as hoped

Todd Myers, with the Washington Policy Center, a non-profit think tank that promotes sound public policy based on free-market solutions, said the suspension is good news after a recent study conducted by WPC showed the state’s EV program has cut transportation-related CO2 emissions by only 0.03%. “And what our research found was that the $45 million that Washington State spent on subsidizing EV purchases did almost nothing,” said Myers.

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For the EV program, cutting off funding could be a big blow to the industry that has already seen lower-than-expected sales in recent years. According to the Times, data from analytics firm Paren showed only 55 charging stations have been built so far nationwide. Of the 37 federally funded stations built in 13 states, there are a total of 226 charging ports.

Congress approved Biden’s program to help fill gaps in the nation’s EV charging network. Part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, another focus of the law was to help increase consumer confidence in electric vehicles.

“I think the challenge has become that EV’s have become very political because they’re a symbol of doing something about climate and some people don’t like them because they’re a symbol of a climate agenda they don’t like,” said Myers. “Especially if you think climate change is serious, you shouldn’t want to waste money on things that don’t work.”

According to The FHA’s letter, they will continue to reimburse states for any infrastructure they’ve already created, allowing states to fulfill any contracts they have with private companies, however unfinished contracts will most likely be put on hold, reported the Times.

Luke Duecy is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Luke’s stories here. Follow Luke on X, or email him here.