Political Quotes

“I would add a footnote to that important conversation, which is they teach economics, and they teach that those externalities are, in effect, a subsidy if they aren't charged to the consumer and made transparent. But they can also distort the market. When those subsidies caused consumers to buy cars that are more polluting or to use fuel that is more contaminating to our environment, they also avoid the benefits, the public-interest benefits, of cleaner fuel and better cars. Just to give you an illustration, for many years, Senator Markey and I crusaded for safer cars--cars that were better built, cars that had seatbelts, cars that had airbags. The industry resisted--almost comically now in retrospect--because once they started installing these devices, once they made cars safe, you know what they found? Consumers wanted safer cars. They also wanted cars that were more energy efficient. Lo and behold, when they saw the benefits of these kinds of energy- saving and environmentally friendly measures, consumers voted with their feet and their wallets and their dollars. If we did not have these kinds of hidden subsidies, consumers would vote for electric cars if there were more charging stations, if there were batteries that took them longer distances without having to recharge. I am kind of surprised that the President of the United States isn't having a showroom on the White House lawn for all electric vehicles, not just for Elon Musk's Tesla.…”