Texas can move forward with a plan to build a network of hundreds of electric vehicle charging sites across the state after the state’s plan was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on Tuesday.
The video above is live 24/7 on ABC13.
Texas It will use up to 408 million dollars From the bipartisan infrastructure law that was signed into law last year to install fast-charging electric vehicle charging sites across the state. In the first year, Texas plans to build more than 50 new sites along major Texas highways between El Paso, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Houston. A few stops have been proposed in the Panhandle and the Rio Grande Valley.
In the next two to five years, the Texas Department of Transportation’s plan proposes expanding stations in rural areas and building at least one electric car charger in each of the state’s 254 counties.
Existing and proposed electric vehicle charging stations for the first year of program implementation: Existing and proposed electric vehicle charging stations in five years of implementation.
United States delegate. Colin ReedIn a statement, D-Dallas said the approval was a “major step forward.”
“More and more Texans are choosing to go electric,” Allred said. “(The program) will create jobs and give people more choices as they travel across our state.”
The federal announcement comes after Gov. Greg Abbott Last year warned state agencies Use caution in applying and accepting funds from newly passed federal climate initiatives. Abbott said that if the money “unnecessarily obstructs or restricts the state” or requires an agency to implement a policy that “contradicts the law or policy of this state” the agreement should not be signed.
“Please exercise caution and communicate frequently with my office before proceeding,” Abbott wrote to Texas agencies in December 2021, after the infrastructure bill was signed into law.
In August, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Cut Act, a more ambitious climate package to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the US economy’s dependence on fossil fuels. The law would provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits and subsidies for clean energy programs and also include tax credits for consumers to purchase electric vehicles.
The Inflation Reduction Act was passed without any Republican support, and Abbott was among 22 Republican governors who opposed the legislationThis would “punish energy producers,” he said in a statement.
But the Biden administration believes it can persuade Republican-controlled countries to take the money and work toward the president’s ambitious goals of decarbonizing the US economy.
Despite the political rhetoric of Texas Republicans and state legislation opposing climate action, TxDOT’s implementation of electric car charging stations indicates that the economy will prevail, Biden’s new national climate advisor Ali Zaidi said during the Texas Tribune Friday.
“If we make it so that it’s not about sacrifice, but about opportunity, I think it becomes irresistible,” Zaidi said.
In addition to more than $400 million for electric vehicle charging, Texas is expected to receive about $27 billion for roads and bridges, $3.4 billion for public transportation and $1.2 billion for airports from the bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg He said during the Texas Tribune Thursday said that “some of the best use cases for electric vehicles are in places like Texas,” arguing that widespread adoption of electric cars could save Texas money on gasoline.
Abbott’s press office did not respond to a request for comment on the state’s plan for electric vehicle chargers.
The Federal Highway Administration has approved the funds for each state, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, To build electric car charging stationsThe agency said, with Texas getting the most out of any state. California was a close second with an estimated $384 million for chargers.
TxDOT’s plan is to build 55 new freight sites within the first year. Private companies have already installed 27 freight sites along the target highways, and another 26 will be established Funded by Volkswagen’s national emissions fraud lawsuit settlement. The state said that would meet the federal government’s requirement to have charging stations every 50-70 miles along so-called alternative fuel corridors.
TxDOT plans to award contracts to build the stations in the spring.
More than 150,000 electric vehicles are registered in Texas, more than half of which are Tesla vehicles, according to the Texas Automobile Administration. Data compiled by the North Central Texas Council of Governments. That’s about 1% of Texas cars, but Texas is quickly adopting the technology: Since 2020, the number of electric cars in Texas has nearly tripled, according to data analyzed by TxDOT.
The Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, better known as ERCOT, Estimates Texas will have 1 million electric cars on the road by 2028.
Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that educates – and interacts with – residents of Texas about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
See also:
.
[ad_2]
