Vice President Kamala Harris, now officially the Democratic presidential nominee, today announced today that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will be her running mate. If Harris wins the election come November, Walz’s support would further help the Democrats in implementing the current administration’s landmark climate policies. That's because Walz is a strong advocate for electric vehicles.
Walz vigorously pushed for Minnesota to adopt California’s strict tailpipe emissions standards back in 2021. His efforts spearheaded Minnesota to become the first Midwestern state, and one of 17 states overall, to implement the Golden State’s strict emissions standards.
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EVs are deeply politicized in the U.S.
America is deeply divided on electric vehicles. On one side, you have the Republican party, led by former president Donald Trump, who wants to repeal EV incentives and drill more oil. On the other hand, the Biden-Harris administration has already implemented landmark EV and climate policies.
"Minnesotans certainly know that old adage, 'You need to skate where the puck is going to be,'" Walz told reporters at the time. "The puck is going to be in EVs. And that is irrefutable," he added.
Advocating for EVs has not been smooth for the 60-year-old governor. Walz faced strong opposition to his "clean car" rules, which encouraged increased EV and hybrid adoption, including a major legal challenge from auto dealers. The rules were signed in 2021 but came into effect from January this year. They require Minnesota to increase the share of electric cars to 20% by 2030, meaning one in five cars would have to be electric by the end of the decade.
The Minnesota Auto Dealers Association attempted to sue the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for alleged regulatory overreach. The case escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the EV regulations and declined the group's appeal.
But as Harris’s running mate, Walz will need to defend not only Minnesota's EV policies but also the current administration’s landmark climate initiatives, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These policies have infused billions of dollars into the U.S. auto industry, helping automakers localize EV and battery production while also enabling the build-out of critical infrastructure such as charging stations.
All this while, former President Donald Trump has threatened to repeal Biden’s EV policies. He has often spewed lies that “EVs don’t go far enough. They’re very, very expensive. They’re also heavy.” He’s doubled down on his commitment to “drill, baby, drill.” Lately, he's dialed back some of his criticism amid burgeoning support from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, but it's considered highly unlikely that Trump will keep EV sales and industry subsidies going.
But trusting Trump and his running mate Senator J.D. Vance with EV policies is like putting cavemen in charge of a spaceship. If Trump’s bromance with Musk falls apart, the auto industry, which is deeply invested in EVs, could face chaos.
Above all, the EPA has said that the transportation sector accounts for nearly 30% of America’s greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, there’s broad consensus among the scientific community that EVs would help bring these emissions down.
Meanwhile, Harris' exact policies on EVs—and whether they'll be markedly any different from Biden's, if at all—remain unclear. But the auto industry is already praying for more "regulatory certainty" as it fears a reversal of policy could put years of work and billions of dollars in EV development at risk.
All said, in November, Americans will have two options: a pair committed to fighting climate change from the ground up or a presidential candidate and convicted felon who supports EVs because he has “no choice.”
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
