PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 3, 2023
Inflation Reduction Act backers will hail falling electric vehicle prices as a victory. Perhaps. But falling prices alone aren’t a panacea. What also matters is how much prices fall by. Knocking $10,000 off a $60,000 car matters little to members of a rich household: They’re going to buy the car anyway. It matters even less to a low-income household because $50,000 is far more than these households ever could – or would – spend on a car. And that’s a problem as some of the most polluting vehicles are owned by poor households. So much for equity. ~ Ashley Nunes, Breakthrough Institute and a research fellow at Harvard Law School