Senator Stabenow Leads Effort to Incentivize Electric Vehicles Made in America and Address Supply Chain Shortages

Stabenow’s Bill to Help Manufacturers Make Clean Energy Technology and Create Good-Paying Jobs Passes the Senate Finance Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new bill to help transition manufacturers to a clean energy economy and address the semiconductor shortage crisis passed the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today. The Clean Energy for America Act included U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow’s bipartisan legislation to provide a 30% tax credit for manufacturers to retool or build new facilities to produce advanced energy technologies including batteries and semi-conductors. The bill incentivizes manufacturers in Michigan to create jobs that draw on existing skilled workforces and reinvest in communities experiencing high unemployment.

The Clean Energy for America Act will also invest in the electrification of our auto industry by helping Americans purchase electric vehicles, a critical step in addressing the climate crisis. Senator Stabenow led the effort to pass the original consumer vehicle tax credit. As a senior member of the Finance Committee, she has been leading the effort to strengthen the existing consumer tax credit with incentives for vehicles made in America and an additional incentive for using union labor.

Senator Stabenow has led the effort to boost clean energy manufacturing for many years. She introduced the manufacturing tax credit bill in March and has worked with Republicans and Democrats to advance the bill through the Finance Committee.

You can watch her opening remarks here. A copy of her remarks as prepared for delivery is below.

“Thank you, Chairman Wyden, and Ranking Member Crapo for this very important mark up.

“Today we’re considering legislation that will put America in the driver’s seat of our clean energy future in a technology neutral way.

“For too long, countries on the other side of the world have been investing to win the global clean energy race. They have been outpacing us on funding new technologies, making critical components Americans rely on, and building electric vehicles. 

“We are now at a crucial moment in our competition to win the clean energy manufacturing future for America and eliminate the real vulnerabilities we are seeing in our supply chains. These vulnerabilities have, unfortunately, been made much worse by COVID-19.

“We know that the transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. And it is clear that electric vehicles are a major part of our transportation future. The question is not whether they will be built.  It’s where they will be built — Asia or America.

“That’s why investing in the electrification of our vehicles — including our pickup trucks and SUVs and our heavy- and medium-duty vehicles— is critical to building a competitive auto industry and combatting the climate crisis.

“I am proud to have led the passage of the original electric vehicle consumer tax credit.  And now, I am joining with Senator Schumer to strengthen the consumer tax credit to get more American drivers behind the wheel of great new electric vehicles.

“Our automakers and workers are the best in the world. They are making the private-sector investments needed to electrify the industry, but they can’t do it alone.

“China has hundreds of companies making electric cars, and they have help—over $100 billion of help so far from the Chinese government.

“The Clean Energy for America Act will also help Michigan and our country partner with the private sector to advance the next generation of American manufacturing. 

“It includes my bipartisan legislation with Senators Joe Manchin and Steve Daines to help companies invest in new manufacturing facilities and expand existing factories to produce clean energy technologies. 

“And, importantly, it will help our manufacturers build parts like semiconductors, so we don’t see the shortages we are facing right now. 

“Today we are taking a giant step out of the past and into a better future. Instead of continuing century-old oil and gas subsidies, this legislation will invest in good-paying jobs that tackle the climate crisis and build a future that is made in America.

“I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation.  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”

###