John Smyth
2024-09-26 18:07:49 UTC
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Permalink'EV school bus boondoggle: Report calls $5B Biden-Harris program a gift
to China
'
<https://readlion.com/ev-school-bus-boondoggle-report-calls-5b-biden-harris-program-a-gift-to-china/>
'(Daily Caller News Foundation) – The Biden-Harris administration’s $5
billion Clean School Bus Program uses up to four times more taxpayer
dollars per school bus, and it benefits the Chinese Communist Party, a
House report has revealed.
The 51-page report from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce found
promoting electric school buses and other electric vehicles enriches the
Chinese Communist Party as the EV supply chain is roughly 90% dependent
on China, raising both national security and human rights concerns.
The Sept. 17 report also highlighted immense expenses for taxpayers,
with the average electric school bus under the first iteration of the
Clean School Bus Program—the first of three iterations—costing $381,191,
or $200,000 to $300,000 more than a typical full-sized diesel school
bus.
“It is clear the $5 billion Clean School Bus Program is overall a
failure and, in many cases, a waste of Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer
dollars,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who chairs the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce, said in a statement regarding the
report’s findings. “The program, led by the radical Biden-Harris
[Environmental Protection Agency], props up a market that relies heavily
upon a supply chain dominated by the Chinese Communist Party.”
Funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, the Clean School Bus
Program provided the Biden-Harris EPA with funds over five years to
“replace existing school buses with zero-emission and clean school
buses.”
China currently accounts for approximately two-thirds of global EV
battery cell production, while the U.S. manufactured just 7% as of 2022,
raising national security concerns as the U.S. would likely have to
depend on Chinese EV technology for its electric school buses, according
to the report. Furthermore, the government-subsidized purchases of
electric school buses under the Clean School Bus Program incentivize
preexisting human rights abuses in the EV supply, including the use of
Uyghur forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region.
The report also identified limited range as an issue, with standard
electric school buses from leading manufacturer BlueBird able to travel
just 120 miles on a single charge, while some propane models can travel
400 miles before needing to refuel. The range problem can also be
exacerbated by cold and warm weather conditions, with a study from the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory finding electric transit buses lose
roughly a third of their range at 25 degrees Fahrenheit compared against
ideal conditions.
Electric school buses also increase the risk of fraud due to a lack of
documentation requirements for contractors, with the EPA relying solely
on self-certified applications and estimates created by applicants,
according to the report.
A separate July report from a Maryland county’s Office of the Inspector
General said the county’s electric bus program resulted in millions of
dollars in “wasteful spending.”
“The EPA launched the Clean School Bus Program without sufficient
safeguards and considerations for practical hurdles applicants may face.
For example, the EPA did not require documentation for some of the
required application information and allowed contractors enthused at the
opportunity to receive federal funding to apply on behalf of unknowing
school districts, some of which eventually withdraw from the program,”
the report states. “The EPA failed to account for the considerable
electric infrastructure upgrades that electrifying a school bus fleet
could require, potentially leading to delays for schools in utilizing
their new buses.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.'