On Thursday, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) questioned Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on EV-related policy during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Secretary Buttigieg, you have recently, just earlier today, you've answered a lot of questions
00:09related to the slow implementation of the EV charging stations.
00:15And one of the conversations that you had I thought was concerning, and I want to kind
00:20of touch upon it, was the statement that this push towards electric vehicles, even though
00:27there's a cost of slave labor, and that we're seeing, and it's not just cobalt.
00:35We've got lithium and other items that are being supplied by, 90 percent of it is coming
00:43from China.
00:45So we're empowering someone who's not, who's an aggressor to the United States.
00:52And yet, you're saying that it's fine so long as we're saving lives in America.
00:58That's not an accurate characterization of what I've said.
01:01We wish you would have supported us in moving more of this onshore so it would be produced
01:05in America.
01:06But the legislation did pass.
01:08And to take graphite alone, we're going to be able to supply, we estimate, 47 percent
01:12of it domestically.
01:14Nobody believes in allowing any product that doesn't meet labor standards to be imported
01:19to the United States.
01:20And if you'd like to work with us on making sure any of the 159 items that are concerned
01:24to include cobalt, it would be better enforced.
01:27We welcome that.
01:28Your view that it saves lives?
01:29We believe that preventing harmful pollution, well, we don't believe, it is a fact that
01:34preventing harmful pollution in the U.S. will save lives.
01:37Have you done any calculations, you know, given the current rate of fires that occur,
01:42and these fires, as reports indicate, take hundreds of thousands of liters of water
01:49to extinguish when an electric vehicle catches fire, have you, do you have any research that
01:55indicates how many people might die from some of these fires?
01:59I haven't seen a projection of that.
02:01I'm sure you're aware that flammable liquids are also a safety concern, and either way,
02:05we work to make sure that they are handled in a safe fashion.
02:08You're not seeing the reports of vehicles, like an epidemic of regular gasoline vehicles
02:16catching fire?
02:17You're not?
02:18You've never heard of gasoline fires in vehicles?
02:20Does it take 150,000 liters of water to put out?
02:23Are you familiar with what happened to the I-95 bridge?
02:26Let me assure you that the use of flammable liquids to propel hundreds of millions of
02:31vehicles includes hazards.
02:32Let me also make you aware that the American Chemical Society estimates that 9,700 Americans
02:39a year die from the pollution associated with passenger vehicle use in this country.
02:45Let me ask this question.
02:48There's been reports of individuals who have been locked in an electric vehicle.
02:54There was a recent story, Renee Sanchez found her 20-month-old daughter, granddaughter,
03:00stuck in an electric vehicle in the heat, the battery had died, and they couldn't get
03:07the child out.
03:08They had to call and get firefighters to come break the glass in order to get the child
03:14out.
03:15Just recently, last year, Secretary Granholm had an embarrassing incident where she had
03:21a PR tour that went south, was promoting electric vehicles and that push.
03:30Driving across the country in electric vehicles, apparently, she had an advanced team that
03:36was in a gas-powered vehicle.
03:38That advanced team occupied the charging station, the one charging station that a family needed
03:44causing that, who had an infant, that family to have to call 911 so that they could make
03:50sure that they were able to provide some kind of care for their infant child in that heat.
03:56I imagine you're aware that the number of publicly available chargers has nearly doubled
04:00since we took office and we're investing to fill in the gaps.
04:02Now, 80% plus of charging happens at home, but for the rest of it, that's where those
04:06public chargers are so important.
04:08We've just never been the kind of country that holds on to old technology because we're
04:12working on problems with the new technology.
04:13You see my point?
04:14The American people are seeing what's happening and they have serious concerns, and yet we're
04:19pushing ever more in this direction, and I don't know that we're actually taking into
04:26consideration the human costs that these are also bringing with them.
04:32The potential for batteries to die, people to be stranded in places without air conditioning,
04:37without support, and I would think that your administration would want to have those facts
04:43as well.
04:44How many people might die because of fires occurring from these batteries?
04:47A battery dying is a problem, just like running out of gas is a problem, which is why we're
04:51investing in addressing that.
04:53I've just never thought of that as an excuse to hang on to dirty and expensive fuels and
04:57old technology.
04:58Well, the American people disagree.
05:00They do not.
05:01Well, no, the American people disagree with you because every year they buy more EVs.
05:04No.
05:05Why do you think they're buying more EVs every year than before?
05:08Present the numbers.
05:09Sure.
05:101.2 million vehicles were purchased last year, and every single quarter, every, how's that?
05:16How many of them were purchased by the government?
05:18Approximately 0.5%.
05:21So, of the number, you're saying-
05:25Of the EVs, about 0.5% were purchased by the federal government.
05:30The only reason why people are buying them is because of the subsidy.
05:33Well, the subsidy makes them more affordable and helps people buy them.
05:36That's true.
05:37Thank you.
05:38My time has expired.