Headline Roundup • July 11th, 2024
Biden Admin Announces $1.7 Billion in Grants for EV Factories
Business,Electric Vehicles,Climate Change,Domestic Policy,Banking And Finance,Unions,Economy And Jobs,General Motors,Inflation Reduction Act
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The federal government will award $1.7 billion in grants to help convert 11 shuttered or at-risk factories to enable electric vehicle production, the Energy Department announced Thursday.
The Details: The grants draw on funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Out of the total, $1.1 billion will go to General Motors (GM) and Stellantis. While the factories are spread throughout eight states — including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia — $650 million of the funds, over a third, will go to just two plants in Michigan. The Biden administration said the grants would help companies create 2,900 new jobs and retain 15,000 current jobs.
Related: Used car prices have fallen recently, with EVs leading the way. This could reflect lower demand for EVs, but it also makes them more affordable than similar gas-powered cars for the first time.
How the Media Covered It: While most coverage was generally similar, some headlines echoed partisan attitudes about EVs. For instance, The Washington Times (Lean Right bias) headline “Biden doles out billions of taxpayer dollars to help unionized auto plants make EVs” uses the words “doles” to suggest wasteful government spending and highlights the role of unions, which many conservatives oppose. On the other hand, The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) noted that the Biden administration “faces criticism for not moving faster on green lending.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
Nic Antaya for The Washington Post
The Energy Department on Thursday unveiled $1.7 billion for retooling 11 auto factories to make electric vehicles and their components, with a focus on facilities that have shuttered or could close without federal help.
The funding underscores how the Biden administration is racing to get climate money out the door before the November election, even as it faces criticism for not moving faster on green lending. Should former president Donald Trump win a second term, he could try to scrap billions of dollars worth of federal spending aimed at accelerating America’s shift...
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
The Biden administration on Thursday awarded $1.7 billion to convert nearly a dozen shuttered or at-risk automobile plants into factories that can make electric vehicles and their parts.
The grants will assist 11 plants across eight states — Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia — and are designed to support “good-paying union jobs” while helping the U.S. compete with foreign players in the EV market, according to the Department of Energy.
President Biden wants to shift the U.S. to EVs instead of gas-powered cars as part of his climate...
Susan Walsh
The federal government is providing $1.7 billion in grants to help revitalize 11 shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing and assembly facilities — including two in Michigan, the White House and Department of Energy said early Thursday.
The grants will go to projects across eight states — Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia. Collectively, according to the Biden administration, the projects could result in the creation of 2,900 new jobs and the retention of 15,000 current ones.
"This investment will create thousands of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs and...
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