Biden v. Trump on Clean Energy

As President Biden makes historic investments in Made in America clean energy, here’s a reminder: Donald Trump repeatedly attacks clean energy, spreading misinformation about wind, solar, and electric vehicles, all after he hampered those industries as president, costing American jobs.

As president, Donald Trump took action to help Big Oil keep its grip on the automotive industry and slow the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Since leaving office, Trump has repeatedly attacked EVs, spread conspiracy theories, and pledged to end Biden’s “mandate” on electric vehicles. Meanwhile, President Biden had made countless investments to boost EV use and lower automobile emissions. Biden worked to lower EV costs for Americans through tax credits and has taken steps to ensure that EV components are made in America.

This document overviews the contrast between Biden and Trump on EVs, Solar, and Wind.       

The Contrast: Electric Vehicles (EVs) 

As President, Trump Rolled Back Clean Car Standards

• Trump rolled back clean car standards following a lobbying campaign by Big Oil.
• Trump rejected the federal EV income tax credit.

Trump Vowed To Repeal Biden’s EV “Mandate”

• Trump has repeatedly vowed to repeal Biden’s “insane electric vehicle mandate” and has attacked electric car subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Trump said he would “terminate Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate” and “stop the ban on the internal combustion engine.”

Trump Claimed EVs Would Destroy U.S. Auto Jobs And Make Auto Companies Go Bankrupt

• Trump claimed that Democrats’ EV policies would destroy all auto jobs in the next two years, and “decimate” the state of Michigan.
• Trump claimed that auto companies lose $60,000 on every electric vehicle they manufacture and that EVs would make them go bankrupt.

Trump Criticized The Cost Of EVs And Claimed That “Nobody” Wants To Buy EVs

• Trump said the average cost of a new EV is over $50,000 and claimed that Biden spent “BILLIONS and BILLIONS” of taxpayer dollars to subsidize EVs for rich people.
• Trump has said that nobody wants to buy EVs because they are too expensive, and claimed that only five percent of Americans want an EV.

Trump Complained About EV’s Range And Charging Time

• Trump said EVs can only drive for a half hour before they need to be recharged.
• Trump said that under Biden, Americans would be forced to drive EVs that can only go for an hour before needing to charge them.
• Trump said that EVs “are too expensive, don’t go far enough, take too long to charge, and pose various dangers under certain atmospheric conditions.”
• Trump complained about the cost of building EV chargers and claimed that it would cost “more money than the United States has” to build enough EV chargers. Trump said it would cost $5 trillion to build the chargers.

Trump Claimed That EVs Don’t Work In Certain Weather Conditions And Doubted The Grid’s Ability To Accommodate EVs

• Trump claimed that electric cars don’t work in cold weather, and said they pose “various dangers under certain atmospheric conditions.”

• Train said EVs will “strain the grid to the breaking point.”
• Trump said the U.S. didn’t have the electric capacity to build EV chargers.

Trump Criticized EV Batteries And Their Electric Capacity

• Trump claimed that EV batteries were an environmental disaster.
• Trump repeatedly claimed that materials for EV batteries were only found in China and that all EVs are going to be made in China. 
• Trump said, “the electric capacity is made through petroleum products, ok? The whole thing is so crazy,” and that the source of electricity comes from fossil fuels.

Trump Railed Against Other Types Of EVs Like Electric Trucks And Army Tanks

• Trump argued that the need to constantly recharge electric trucks would impact the supply chain and worsen inflation.
• Trump claimed that batteries take up the entirety of an electric truck, that electric trucks have low range, and that electric trucks couldn’t pull the necessary weight.
• Trump criticized the Biden administration for experimenting with all-electric Army tanks, claiming they would “not be able to go very far.”

Biden Funded Projects, Announced Grants, And Set Goals To Support The EV Transition

• Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides a credit equal to 30% of the sales prices of a used EV, up to $4,000, as well as a tax credit of up to $7,500 for a new EV.
• Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested $7.5 billion in EV charging, $10 billion in clean transportation, and over $7 billion in EV battery components, critical minerals, and materials.
• The Biden administration announced that it would award $623 million in local government grants to build out a nationwide EV charging network. The grants will fund 47 EV charging stations, including 7,500 EV charging ports, in 22 states and Puerto Rico.
• Biden’s EPA issued new emissions standards that aimed to boost EV and hybrid sales. The new standards would prevent more than 7 billion tons of carbon emissions over the next 30 years, providing nearly $100 billion in annual net benefits.
• The Biden administration laid out a national goal to cut freight shipping emissions down to zero following the announcement of a strategy to place charging infrastructure for electric freight trucks in high-traffic corridors.
• Biden’s Department of Transportation and Energy announced it would invest $325 million into programs to advance EV technology, make repairs to EV chargers, and cut battery costs.

The Contrast: Solar

The Trump Administration Hurt The Solar Industry

• While Trump was in office he imposed tariffs on solar and slow-walked the leasing and planning processes for renewable energy projects, and lost out on 62,000 jobs. 
• The Trump administration eliminated the solar investment tax credit.

Trump Attacked Solar 

• Trump said solar was, “massively expensive and we can’t allow China to build a factory a week and we do nothing.”
• Trump lied about solar not being able to power factories.
• Trump claimed wind and solar received subsidies while oil and gas did not. 

Project 2025 Called To Block Expansion Of The Electrical Grid For Solar

• Project 2025 called for blocking the expansion of the electrical grid for solar and shuttering the Department of Energy’s renewable energy offices.

Biden Championed Solar

• Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which established tax credits for solar energy projects including a 20 percent bonus credit for solar projects that sell electricity to low-income households, which will support enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes in the next ten years. 
• The Biden administration announced $7 billion in solar for all grants to deliver residential solar, saving low-income Americans $350 million annually
• The Interior Department proposed an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s Renewable Energy Rule, which would reduce fees for wind and solar projects on public lands by around 80% and streamline application review.
• The DOE announced $45 million in funding, including $18 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to support domestic manufacturing of key solar panel components. The funding will also support the development of agrivoltaics and building-integrated photovoltaics. 

The Contrast: Wind

Trump Waged A War Against Wind Energy

• Trump’s disdain for wind dates back to 2006, when he bought land in Scotland for a golf course next to a planned wind farm. Trump sued in an attempt to stop the wind farm, claiming that it would ruin the view for golfers. Trump ultimately lost his challenge to the wind farm, and the project was completed in 2018.
• Trump vowed to end wind subsidies. 
• Trump has pledged to end offshore wind on day one with an executive order.
• Project 2025 called for blocking the expansion of the electrical grid for wind and shuttering the Department of Energy’s renewable energy offices. 
• Trump claimed offshore wind turbines break down when exposed to saltwater.
• Trump claimed that having a windmill near a house makes it worthless and impossible to sell.
• Trump claimed wind farms had to be rebuilt every ten years. 

Trump Pushed Conspiracy Theories About Windmills

• Trump said that windmills cause cancer and that wind “kills all the birds.” 
• Trump claimed windmills were causing “whales to die in numbers never seen before.”
• Trump claimed that windmills were driving whales “crazy” and “a little batty.”
• Trump claimed “intermittent” wind energy would prevent people from watching television and that wind powered-electricity doesn’t work when the wind doesn’t blow. 

Biden Turbocharged The U.S. Wind Industry 

• Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which spurred onshore wind production and boosted domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies.
• The Interior Department proposed an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s Renewable Energy Rule, which would reduce fees for wind and solar projects on public lands by around 80% and streamline application review.
• The Biden administration announced the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The Interior Department reported that the proposed offshore sites could power nearly 1.3 million homes. 
• The DOE announced investments to secure US leadership in floating offshore wind development through planning, research, and technology, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. It will reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by more than 70% by 2035. 
• The Departments of the Interior and Energy released an Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region, which outlines the immediate steps needed to connect the first generation of offshore wind projects to the electric grid. The report also outlines longer-term efforts to support transmission needs for the next several decades.