The electric two-step

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Apr 12, 2022 View in browser   By Debra Kahn and Jordan Wolman Presented by THE BIG IDEA Yellow buses, going green. | Photo: Business Wire THE TRUCK STOPS HERE — Some of the world's largest truck engine manufacturers say they're all-in on electric vehicles. So why is their main trade group still lobbying against them? AB Volvo says it's going to try to sell 50 percent of its heavy-duty trucks as EVs by 2030. Daimler Truck AG is touting investments in truck charging infrastructure along the West Coast and a million miles driven in its electric Freightliners. Navistar Inc. is making the case that its electric school buses can help slash greenhouse gasses. Yet the trade group they all belong to, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, is arguing that federal and state rules intended to boost numbers of zero-emission trucks are too onerous. EMA and environmentalists will square off at an EPA hearing starting today on the agency's newly proposed limits on emissions from some of the heaviest vehicles, including tractor-trailers, buses, delivery vans and dump trucks, starting in 2027. Sierra Club and 18 other groups sent the organization a letter Monday urging it to support stronger standards. EMA's president, Jed Mandel , says the demand isn't necessarily there. "Their customers haven't bought them yet, and there's no guarantee they will," he said of Volvo and Daimler's plans. Mandel also argued that EPA's proposal creates more regulatory uncertainty because the agency had already settled on greenhouse gas standards through model year 2027 under the Obama administration, which he said are already "very challenging." The rules that companies are opposing are in some cases weaker than their own voluntary targets. Volvo's self-assigned goal of 50 percent electric trucks would result in the company producing at least 15,000 heavy-duty EV trucks in 2030, assuming it doesn't decline from 2020 sales levels and chooses to meet its target within the North American market rather than by overcomplying elsewhere. It's not particularly surprising companies are trying to have it both ways — just notable. Chalk it up to a need to compete with the likes of Tesla Inc., Rivian Automotive Inc. and other splashy manufacturers with sky-high valuations. "Some of it's to please Wall Street, some of it's to please regulators and stockholders," said Michelle Krebs , an executive analyst with Cox Automotive. "Watch the action, not just read the press release. I keep hearing so-and-so automaker is way ahead of everyone else on EVs. Really? They're not selling any." "Companies don't like to be told what to do, but they're worried about their reputation and their image, so that's why they hide behind their trade associations," said Dan Sperling, a member of California's Air Resources Board and head of the University of California, Davis Institute for Transportation Studies. Sperling should know: He co-wrote a 2014 study of automakers' attitudes toward California's sales mandate for zero-emission light-duty vehicles and found that while individual companies gradually became more compliant, industry coalitions "remain relatively defensive in their political actions." "Look at the valuations of electric vehicle companies and look at the value of the legacy companies," Sperling said. "Tesla is worth more than most of the rest of the industry put together. This is on the light-duty side, mostly, but even on the truck side, you're seeing these startup companies that haven't produced more than a handful of any EV trucks having multi-billion-dollar valuations." "There's tremendous uncertainty, and to be fair to the companies it's a massive investment that they're being asked to make, and so a prudent risk-mitigation strategy is to go slower." Debra has the details. And chew on this: Electricity might not be up to the task of powering long-haul, heavy-duty trucks. Some experts say the industry should be looking to the next green thing, hydrogen.   A message from The American Beverage Association: At America's beverage companies our plastic bottles are made to be remade. We're carefully designing them to be 100% recyclable, including the caps—so every bottle can become a new one. That means less plastic waste in our environment. Please help us get Every Bottle Back. EveryBottleBack.org   YOU TELL US Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott, deputy editor Debra Kahn, reporters Lorraine Woellert and Catherine Boudreau, and digital producer Jordan Wolman. Reach them at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com, lwoellert@politico.com, cboudreau@politico.com and jwolman@politico.com. Want more? Don't we all. Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still free!   A message from The American Beverage Association:   BUILDING BLOCKS ON THE OTHER HAND — Electric cars are zooming: Worldwide sales could reach 1 million a month this year, or one every 3 seconds, as David Ferris reports for POLITICO's E&E News. A study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates EVs will reach 20 million worldwide by June and 26 million by the end of the year. That's pretty incredible, given that there were only 1 million on the road in 2016. The majority of EVs have been sold in the past 18 months. China and Europe are leading the charge, with 46 percent and 34 percent of total sales, respectively. The U.S. has 15 percent. Other big markets like Japan, India and Brazil make up 5 percent. It's not just growth; it's also diversity. The U.S. market will have 109 EV models under $100,000 by 2025, according to another new study conducted by consultancy ERM and commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund. SUSTAINABLE FINANCE Johannesburg, South Africa, and its affluent suburbs. | Themba Hadebe/AP Photo 'GREAT FINANCIAL DIVIDE' – That's the big takeaway from a comprehensive United Nations report on financing for sustainable development out today. The report touches on, well, pretty much everything: debt, trade, climate change, biodiversity, carbon pricing, fossil fuel subsidies, infrastructure, ESG, vaccine inequity, poverty, literacy and more. The U.N. is sounding the alarm that "divergence is our reality" as the gap between richer and poorer countries continues to grow. In 2021, 77 million people plunged into extreme poverty, and illiteracy in developing countries surged by 17 percent from 2019. An uneven response to the pandemic and market shocks from the war in Ukraine are immediate culprits. The report warns that increased spending on refugees in Europe as a result of Russia's attack on Ukraine could result in a cut in aid to the world's poorest countries. Inequalities in climate exposure are also on the U.N.'s mind. The report calls for a just transition and carbon pricing. More support for clean energy is needed to counter an expected rise in fossil fuel subsidies through 2025, it says. And the world needs globally consistent corporate sustainability standards, more disclosure and more ways for individual investors to express their sustainability preferences. ESG got a name-check, too – but probably not in the way you're thinking. Sustainable funds have less exposure to emerging markets than non-sustainable funds, jeopardizing development in less developed countries. If ESG investing is about creating a positive impact, investors should target countries with higher needs: "This is not yet happening," the report said. Some good news: There's progress in research and development, green energy and other technologies, with America's bipartisan infrastructure package cited as one example. Private investment rebounded in 2021, including a doubling of sustainable investment to $1 trillion and large growth in sustainability-themed funds. What now? The report will be the basis of discussions at this month's ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development.   INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     WEALTH GAP, PART II — The International Energy Agency agrees: Inequality in clean energy spending could make it even harder to meet global climate targets, Sara Schonhardt reports for POLITICO's E&E News. Countries are spending big — to the tune of $710 billion — on renewables, EV infrastructure, carbon capture and other clean energy as part of their Covid-19 stimulus packages. That's actually close to the $1 trillion annually that IEA said last year was needed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. But it's lopsided: More than half of the total amount, $370 billion, is earmarked by developed economies for use by the end of 2023. In contrast, lower-income countries are planning to spend around $52 billion on sustainable recovery measures. Rich countries need to give more help to poorer ones, the report says. "Countries where clean energy is at the heart of recovery plans are keeping alive the possibility of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, but challenging financial and economic conditions have undermined public resources in much of the rest of the world," IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement.   A message from The American Beverage Association: America's leading beverage companies - The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo - are working together to reduce our industry's plastic footprint through our Every Bottle Back initiative. We're investing in efforts to get our bottles back so we can remake them into new bottles and use less new plastic. Together, we're: · Designing 100% recyclable plastic bottles – we're making our bottles from PET that's strong, lightweight and easy to recycle. · Investing in community recycling – we're marshalling the equivalent of nearly a half-billion dollars with The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners to support community recycling programs across multiple states. · Raising awareness – we're adding on-pack reminders to encourage consumers to recycle our plastic bottles and caps. Our bottles are made to be remade. Please help us get Every Bottle Back. EveryBottleBack.org   WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — Stripe Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and other tech giants are pouring nearly $1 billion into carbon-removal research.  — "Cries rising from the soggy edges of this country" are a sign that FEMA and local governments need to improve enforcement of floodplain development rules. — Obstetricians are warning patients about the effects of heat waves and wildfire smoke on their babies.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.       Follow us on Twitter Catherine Boudreau @ceboudreau Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Lorraine Woellert @Woellert Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman   Follow us

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