Majority of voters favor gasoline-car phaseout. But all-electric goal faces tough opposition.
Ahead of the November 2016 election, President Barack Obama called on the U.S. to electrify all 50 states by 2040. “You’re going to see a lot of places that get to that point,” he said. “It’s a little more ambitious than what I can do in a single term.” Two years later, with the U.S. moving toward 100-percent clean energy, Obama is still trumpeting the U.S. progress as a shining example to the world.
It’s unclear whether the president will live up to his own words when he delivers a State of the Union address in the House chamber in Washington on Tuesday. But regardless of what he says, the message from the president’s party is clear.
“We want the next president to come into the presidency of the United States, whatever the circumstance, to say this is what we have fought for, what you have fought for, and we are turning it into reality,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Since November 2009, the U.S. has set a goal to achieve 100-percent renewable energy by 2035, a goal the president has repeatedly announced. But when asked by Reuters last year about the date by which the U.S. would be 100-percent renewable, the White House told reporters it was in discussion, and officials would make their decision “when we get there.”
On top of that, many energy experts and government officials think it would be a mistake for the United States to reach this goal without taking a harder look at how electric vehicles could improve the economy and increase overall energy efficiency. Electric vehicles, though, could be a means of reaching the renewable energy target with even more efficiency.
Electric cars would cut down the nation’s oil imports by as much as 45 percent and fuel its own oil production. In the early 21st century, the U.S. imported nearly 20 million barrels of oil per day. The White House project, though, is based on the notion that