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Senator John Barrasso Parrots Koch Talking Points to Kill Electric Car Tax Credit

This morning, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, published an op-ed in Fox News, arguing for an end to the federal electric vehicle (EV) tax credit and a new “annual highway user fee for alternative-fuel vehicles.”

Barrasso, who has cashed more money from Koch Industries in the 2018 election cycle than all but two senators, and has taken in $45,400 from Koch Industries from 2013 to 2018, introduced a bill last October that would immediately amend the tax code to terminate the EV tax credit and calculate a new annual user fee for drivers of cars that aren’t powered by gasoline or diesel. A similar bill was introduced at the same time in the House by Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas, a key Koch ally. Continue reading “Senator John Barrasso Parrots Koch Talking Points to Kill Electric Car Tax Credit”

How AFPM Rallied GOP Governors’ Support for Trump’s Rollback of Auto Standards

As the Trump administration worked to revise and relax federal fuel economy and emissions standards for cars and light trucks, an oil refiners trade group worked connections with Republican governors to rally support for the proposed rollback.

Emails obtained by Documented, a watchdog group that tracks corporate influence in government, revealed that the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) were actively recruiting Republican Governors to sign onto a public comment letter supporting the weaker CAFE (corporate average fuel efficiency) standards, while also “shopping around” a pre-written op-ed with language borrowed from the American Energy Alliance, a free market advocacy group run by a former Koch Industries lobbyist.   Continue reading “How AFPM Rallied GOP Governors’ Support for Trump’s Rollback of Auto Standards”

Senators Demand Trump Administration Reveal Marathon Petroleum and Koch Influence in Clean Car Standards Rollbacks

Two senate democrats this week ordered several Trump administration cabinet members and agency officials to reveal how the oil industry and Koch network have worked behind closed doors to influence the proposed rollback of auto efficiency and emissions standards.

Senator Tom Carper of Delaware and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer sent a letter to the current heads of the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and others in the administration to demand information about a “covert lobbying campaign with oil industry groups to support Trump Administration efforts to weaken fuel economy standards and increase demand for oil consumption.” Continue reading “Senators Demand Trump Administration Reveal Marathon Petroleum and Koch Influence in Clean Car Standards Rollbacks”

Koch-Commissioned Study Aims to Kill Electric Vehicle Tax Credit

When Koch Industries needs a study to cast doubt on the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs), where does it turn? Unsurprisingly, to an industry-funded study mill that infamously produced a key report defending the tobacco industry  that was deployed by Philip Morris in the 1990s, and which has since published studies commissioned by the LNG industry, the coal industry, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Continue reading “Koch-Commissioned Study Aims to Kill Electric Vehicle Tax Credit”