We Broke the Internet (Almost)!
What to know: TPPF’s new study on the true cost of electric vehicles continues to get plenty of attention in the media.
The TPPF take: It’s tough to do a cost/benefit analysis until you know the real cost of something. That’s the purpose of the TPPF study.
“The cost of producing electric vehicles is far higher than the prices they are being sold for,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “Nearly $22 billion in federal and state subsidies and regulatory credits suppressed the retail price of EVs in 2021 by an average of almost $50,000.”
For more on electric vehicles, click here.
Blowing Up Your Bills
What to know: Offshore wind plans are getting more and more expensive—taxpayers and ratepayers will be on the hook for the higher costs.
The TPPF take: Biden’s Green New Deal lite is facing substantial headwinds.
“The strength of those headwinds was made clear in the summer, when the feds received exactly zero bids for leases off Texas,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “Industry expressed a profound disinterest in these Gulf leases, casting a shadow on what the Biden administration has called ‘an important milestone for the Gulf of Mexico region — and for our nation — to transition to a clean energy future.’ No surprise, given that despite massive subsidies, offshore wind is twice as expensive as onshore resources.”
For more on offshore wind, click here.
That’s Pretty Rank
What to know: Ranked choice voting is the “Monster Under The Bed Of American Elections,” according to The Federalist’s Shawn Fleetwood.
The TPPF take: Proponents say that RCV is more inclusive and encourages more participation.
“But our findings suggest the system can, in many cases, lead to disenfranchisement due to ‘ballot exhaustion,’ which occurs when all of the voter’s preferences have been eliminated, but the count continues—essentially making that voter’s ballot useless,” says TPPF’s John Bonura. “Many states are realizing how slow, confusing, and disenfranchising this process is, and have banned it before it can take hold. Texas needs to be one of these states.”
For more on ranked-choice voting, click here.