President Biden has repeatedly told the American public he’s going to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030—and he even signed the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which allocated a whopping $7.5 billion toward the effort. (And people ask, why is inflation so high?)
However, like many of Joe’s initiatives, it isn’t working out so well.
Buttigieg Flails Trying to Explain Why Only 8 EV Charging Stations Have Been Built by Biden Admin
Transportation Secretary “Mayor Pete” had a variety of excuses, telling CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan in late May that, “Now, in order to do a charger, it’s more than just plugging a small device into the ground.” Thanks for the primer, Pete. He continued: “There’s utility work, and this is also really a new category of federal investment.” Whatever that means.
But a report Wednesday from the Washington Beacon claims there’s another culprit to blame for the embarrassing delays—the government’s insistence on injecting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into the project.
…internal memos from the Department of Transportation obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, as well as interviews with those who are responsible for overseeing the implementation of the electric vehicle charging station project, say the delay is in large part a result of the White House’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
“These requirements are screwing everything up,” said one senior Department of Transportation staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It’s all a mess.”
Did you ever wonder why Biden has spent BILLIONS of dollars on only 7 electric car charging stations ? It’s because of woke DEI that has surged the cost, slowed production finding people that can actually do it & making sure Illegals immigrants included. pic.twitter.com/KJeSgQdOtu
— 🇺🇸 God Bless America 🇺🇸 (@RoyLovesAmerica) June 14, 2024
Although Biden has reportedly expressed frustration with the pace of the charger installation, he only has himself to blame.
Shortly after taking office, the president signed an executive order mandating that the beneficiaries of 40 percent of all federal climate and environmental programs should come from “underserved communities.” The order also established the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, which monitors agencies such as the Department of Transportation to ensure the “voices, perspectives, and lived realities of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White House and reflected in federal policies, investments, and decisions.”
Serving underserved communities—sounds like a noble goal. However, it’s how that manifests itself in practice that is so often the rub. Manufacturers, construction companies, and installers have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to get the job.
This is government idiocy personified:
In order to qualify for a grant, applicants must “demonstrate how meaningful public involvement, inclusive of disadvantaged communities, will occur throughout a project’s life cycle.” What “public involvement” means is unclear. But the Department of Transportation notes it should involve “intentional outreach to underserved communities.”
That outreach, the Department of Transportation states, can take the form of “games and contests,” “visual preference surveys,” or “neighborhood block parties” so long as the grant recipient provides “multilingual staff or interpreters to interact with community members who use languages other than English.” [Bolding mine.]
“This all just slows down construction,” says Jim Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who focuses on federal regulation….
Instead of asking people how well and how quickly they can install EV charging stations, they’re asking them to hold games and contests and block parties. What that has to do with getting the darn things built is beyond me, but you can see some companies would want nothing to do with the effort: “…all applicants for federal funding must in many cases submit reports that can total hundreds of pages about how they will pursue ‘equity’ every step along the way,” the Beacon reports. Seriously, this is how you get things done in Bideworld?!
$8 billion later and seven EV charging stations have been built.
You are getting your money stolen from you. https://t.co/o9lM5ZfBnX
— Tired of being politically correct (@USBornNRaised) June 14, 2024
The only good thing that’s come out of this so far is that we get to watch one leftist agenda fight it out with another leftist agenda. That’s always fun to watch, at least.
