The cast of CBS Saturday Morning was distraught by the possibility that, just as Ronald Reagan removed Jimmy Carter’s solar panels, Donald Trump may “stall progress” in developing infrastructure for electric vehicles and put economics ahead of "the good of the environment."
During a recorded report, transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave lamented, “With the help of manufacturer incentives and tax rebates of up to $7,500, EVs now account for nearly one in ten new car sales, but 2025 comes with uncertainty.”
Van Cleave further warned that “The pace of EV sales have slowed. President-elect Donald Trump is pledging to roll back emissions standards, potentially cut money for building a national charging infrastructure, or end government subsidies for EVs, including those tax rebates, a move supported by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.”
In a clip, Trump was shown declaring that “On day one, I end the all-electric mandate and I'm a fan of electric cars [jump cut] Can you imagine they want to almost immediately go to all electric. And we don't have enough electric to take care of ourselves.”
Later, after Van Cleave’s report, co-host Dana Jacobson wished people would put their economic concerns to the side and just get with the EV program, “And one of the interesting things with this is also the infrastructure out there. Forget the other economics, you've got to have infrastructure of charging throughout, and you keep seeing that coming. If that continues, you wonder if people will put some of the economics aside for the good of the environment.”
Fellow co-host Michelle Miller agreed, “That's the point, and it reminds me of Jimmy Carter putting the solar panels on the White House.”
After Jacobson recalled “that they later removed,” Miller continued, "That they later removed and how changing policy from one administration to the next can either stall progress in some people's eyes or -- we'll see.”
Of course, Donald Trump is not going to remove anything. CBS’s worst-case scenario is that the government will no longer subsidize the manufacturing of or incentivize the purchasing of EVs or building of charging stations. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration kept getting in its own way on issuing EV charging station grants with bureaucratic DEI red tape.
Here is a transcript for the January 11 show:
CBS Saturday Morning
1/11/2025
8:39 AM ET
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: With the help of manufacturer incentives and tax rebates of up to $7,500, EVs now account for nearly one in ten new car sales, but 2025 comes with uncertainty. The pace of EV sales have slowed. President-elect Donald Trump is pledging to roll back emissions standards, potentially cut money for building a national charging infrastructure, or end government subsidies for EVs including those tax rebates, a move supported by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
DONALD TRUMP: On day one, I end the all-electric mandate and I'm a fan of electric cars [jump cut] Can you imagine they want to almost immediately go to all electric. And we don't have enough electric to take care of ourselves.
…
DANA JACOBSON: And one of the interesting things with this is also the infrastructure out there. Forget the other economics, you've got to have infrastructure of charging throughout, and you keep seeing that coming. If that continues, you wonder if people will put some of the economics aside for the good of the environment.
MICHELLE MILLER: That's the point, and it reminds me of Jimmy Carter putting the solar panels on the White House.
JACOBSON: That they later removed.
MILLER: That they later removed and how changing policy from one administration to the next can either stall progress in some people's eyes or -- we'll see.
JACOBSON: Good point, yeah.
