Ford is moving to lay off thousands of workers in order to fund its electric vehicles (EVs) program that supports the Biden administration’s climate goals, according to Bloomberg.
The automaker is planning to lay off 8,000 of its employees to raise profits and pay for its ramp-up of EV production, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Ford will spend roughly $50 billion, according to Reuters, to make 2 million EVs annually by 2026 after selling 27,140 in 2021.
“These ‘green’ energy boondoggles are throwing gasoline on the fire and are the last thing we need in a recession,” Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In a speech Wednesday, President Joe Biden said his green energy transition will ultimately create more jobs.
“When I think about climate change — I think jobs,” Biden said.
Ford set a goal to have electric vehicles comprise 40-50% of its total sales in the U.S. by 2030 in accordance with Biden’s climate agenda and zero-emissions targets consistent with the Paris climate goals, according to a 2021 White House press release.
“Manufacturers will produce fewer traditional, reliable engines here in America, and will shift to overseas battery production,” Antoni told the DCNF.
“It also means that new vehicles will be more expensive, further hurting America’s poor and middle class who will be forced to continue driving older vehicles, while they are still available, or shift entirely to less desirable alternatives like public transportation, ” he said.