With climate change becoming an increasingly concerning problem for the world, 69% of Americans think the government isn’t doing enough to combat climate change. While things such as rejoining the Paris Climate Accord are a step in the right direction, a factor our government has neglected to consider is growth in electric vehicles (EVs). According to the EPA, motor vehicles collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide pollution in the U.S. With this data in mind, it’s shocking to hear that even one electric car switch can stop an average of 1.5 million grams of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. However, the attitude our government has towards these vehicles seems nonchalant at best.

Although electric vehicles have been around for over seventy years, several companies have only recently started the shift to producing more and more electric vehicles and minimizing the role gasoline plays in their vehicles. However, the American people don’t seem to be wanting this shift; according to an AP article, “only 4% of adults with a driver’s license planned to acquire an EV the next time they buy a vehicle.” Conversely, Europe faced a 137% increase in plug-in vehicle registrations last year. In addition, Ford plans on all European articles by 2030 to be electric.

The vast differences in these numbers are a direct result of the government’s attitude towards EVs in both areas of the world. Recent analysis shows that the U.S. has been lagging behind the European Union (EU) in terms of environmental protections, and these are the same laws that pushed European motor companies to shift towards producing more EVs.

This lag is more prevalent than ever in Georgia, which requires citizens who operate an electric vehicle to pay an annual fee of over 200 dollars in order to make up for their lack of a gas tax. This fee further contributes to the overall attitude that seems to be plaguing the country when it comes to electric vehicles: they’re too expensive to be viable. A consumer reports survey showed that price and range were the two biggest factors when it came to dissuading people from buying electric vehicles, with 43% of respondents claiming the former. Instead of doing their best to lower these prices, however, the government seems to be adding on to them instead. 

“The alternative tax seems redundant because the source of energy for most electrical cars is heavily abundant, and can always change into something more sustainable,” argues sophomore Saanvi Mudpa, who owns an electric vehicle. “On the other hand, gasoline made from petroleum is a non-renewable source that’s expected to run out over the next few years if oil consumption doesn’t decrease,” she adds.

Furthermore, governments in Europe have been able to slash the cost of EVs to be cheaper to maintain than traditional vehicles through direct incentives and subsidies. On the other hand, according to a My EV article, Georgia tacks itself onto the list of 17 other U.S. states that charge a fee to operate an electrical vehicle; there was even a proposed $1000 dollar registration fee in Illinois. They claim to be doing this in order to make up for the lost funds from gas taxes that would then help infrastructure. However, this same problem can be solved by basing registration fees on a vehicle’s weight or a mileage tax, as those are both other contributing factors to infrastructure damage. These would help alleviate the gas tax deficit while still promoting a positive attitude towards EVs. Even the Biden Administrations Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigeg, has spoken about how this solution would be both economically and environmentally feasible.