Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy questioned a witness Thursday on why the government has to incentivize Americans to buy electric vehicles if they’re so “swell.”
During Thursday’s Senate Committee on the Budget hearing, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association Abigail Ross Hopper testified about the need for the Inflation Reduction Act and its “significant investments in the clean energy economy.”
During the hearing, Kennedy asked her about the demand for electric vehicles.
“Ms. Hopper, I love solar energy, I just want you to know that, and I love electric cars, but I gotta ask you this question, I’ve been waiting to ask this. If electric cars are so swell, how come government has to pay people to drive them?”
“So I think, like most government polices, right, are put in place to incent certain behaviors and so there’s part of the policy is that if we want more electric cars –” Hopper began to say before Kennedy jumped in.