Are you interested in reducing your fossil fuel emissions? Buying an electric car would be the a logical answer for this. However, why spend the extra money? Electric cars are expensive and the purchase is difficult to justify for most people. This is why I propose that the US enhances the current financial incentives that exist for electric vehicle buyers. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all US emissions, emitting around 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas”. If, the 42 percent of US households that could afford to own and operate an electric vehicle, did, we would save 350 million barrels of oil a year. The US already has $2,500-$7,500 in tax credit for electric vehicle buyers, depending on battery size. Still, electric vehicles make up barely 1 percent of the vehicle sales market. In the first half of 2017, only 90,302 EV’s were sold, making up 1.07 percent of the vehicle market. Norway has the best incentives for purchasing electric vehicles. Thus, EV’s and hybrids made up 52 percent of their vehicle market in 2017. This proves the effectiveness of incentives. In the past couple years, Norway’s fully electric vehicle fleet has grown to over 100,000, with a population of only 5.2 million. In 2017, the US had 183,778 EV sales. However, the US has a population of over 326 million. Using Norway as an example, the US should should be able to greatly improve EV sales by increasing incentives. I understand that not everybody supports electric vehicles, but increasing the financial incentives would only affect the buyer. If financed properly, incentives could be increased without affecting taxes. If you are interested in supporting this project, please contact Dan Newhouse or your nearest district representative urging them to consider increasing EV incentives. Call Mr. Newhouse at (202) 225-5816, or message him at [url]newhouse.house.gov/contact[/url]. Feel free to visit my website at [url]sites.google.com/methow.org/evincentives/home.[/url]
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