Former President Donald Trump’s politics have put electric vehicles squarely in the middle of ongoing culture wars. And Georgia’s emerging economy as a green energy hub, which is being driven by Gov. Brian Kemp, is a focus of the fight.
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, a powerful gas and oil lobbying group, launched a $3 million ad blitz in Georgia and eight other battleground states on Wednesday warning that President Joe Biden’s policies spell doom for fossil fuel-based cars.
“It’s their way or the highway, even if electric vehicles aren’t right for you or your family,” the ad says.
The ad centers on new tailpipe pollution limits from the Environmental Protection Agency that require the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. to be all hybrids or all-electric vehicles by 2032.
Trump has repeatedly taken aim at the EV industry in stops in Georgia and beyond, including a rally in Wisconsin this week where he vowed to end the “electric vehicle mandate” on the first day of his second term.
Biden, meanwhile, argues that a phaseout of gas-powered vehicles will help fight climate change and help the U.S. keep pace with rivals more aggressively embracing alternative energy. His 2022 climate and green energy law is a centerpiece of his reelection bid.
It has put Georgia in the middle of the fray, where Kemp used his second inaugural address last year to commit to making the state the “electric mobility capital of America.”
Even with Rivian’s decision to delay its new east Georgia EV factory, electric vehicle manufacturers, battery makers and others have flocked to Georgia. And Hyundai Motor Group’s $7.6 billion EV factory near Savannah has already supercharged the area’s economy — before a single car has rolled off the line.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
NOT RESIGNING. The embattled first-vice chair of the Georgia GOP told the party’s state committee last night the same thing he told the AJC: he’s not resigning.
The party held an emergency meeting Tuesday as a growing number of conservative figures joined U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, to demand that Brian Pritchard resign.
Those calls started last week after a judge ruled that Pritchard violated state election laws when he voted nine times while serving probation for a felony check forgery sentence.
Pritchard has long falsely claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election. The revelation that the election denier also cast illegal ballots prompted much criticism from prominent members of both parties.
He told the AJC that he’s “atoned” for what he’s done and his “credibility is intact.” He added: “And now I’m working every single day to help Donald J. Trump be the next president.”
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GREENE JABS. Congress is not in session this week, but our pal Jamie Dupree reports that hasn’t stopped U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, from taking daily public jabs at House Speaker Mike Johnson. In late March, Greene filed a motion to boot Johnson from his post, and she’s kept up the public pressure during the Easter break for lawmakers.
On Tuesday, Greene again rebuked Johnson over plans for the full House to vote later this month on billions in military aid for Ukraine. “Johnson is actually helping the Democrats’ mission, not ours,” Greene said. “Again, we need a new Speaker of the House.”
So far, Greene’s move to get rid of Johnson — who was only elected Speaker back in October — has not attracted much support from fellow GOP lawmakers in the U.S. House.
“If you want to talk performance of Speaker Johnson — I’m as dismayed and disappointed as anybody,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Az. But Biggs predicted that any motion by Greene to oust Johnson would be defeated on the House floor.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
CATOOSA CHAOS. A political and legal standoff in Catoosa County after the local GOP resisted a judge’s order to qualify Republican contenders could be coming to a head.
The local board of elections voted 4-1 Tuesday to qualify the four candidates as Republicans on the upcoming May primary ballot.
The Catoosa GOP has tried to block the quartet from running on the party’s ticket after passing controversial rules that give local activists the final say over who can run as a Republican.
“It’s been a long day, but I feel great that we’ve been heard by yet another board that has agreed to keep us on the ballot,” Steven Henry, one of the candidates, told Local 3 News.
“I am very thankful that we have people that decided to put the choice back to the people, back to the citizens, back to the voters where it belongs.”
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
BUDGET BUSTERS. Now that Congress has finished work on the bills that fund the federal government — almost six months late — U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, wants to see his party be more proactive this year on spending matters. “Our country cannot afford a repeat,” Collins tweeted on Tuesday.
But working against Republicans again this year is their very slim majority in the House. That edge is 218-213 right now, and will likely be down to 217-214 by the end of the month after another GOP resignation and a special election in New York where Democrats are favored.
Republicans have already pushed a nonbinding budget outline through the House Budget Committee, which calls for a balanced budget in 10 years, but it’s not clear if that will get a full House vote. The next government shutdown deadline is September 30, at the end of the current fiscal year.
Budget failure is nothing new for either party, unfortunately. Congress has not finished the 12 yearly government funding bills on time — by that September 30 deadline date — since 1996, when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on the “Politically Georgia” radio show, Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson and Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul join to talk about issues affecting their fair cities. And the AJC’s Maureen Downey will discuss the education measures at the General Assembly.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org.
If you missed Tuesday’s show, House Speaker Jon Burns joined to discuss his first session as Speaker. And later, state Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, called in for a conversation about “the suburban woman problem.”
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will deliver remarks from the White House this morning about lowering health care costs for Americans.
- The House and Senate are both out of session for a two-week Easter recess.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
LAST WORD. The AJC’s man in Macon, Joe Kovac Jr., flags for us the obituary for Hugh Lawson, former chief federal judge for the Middle District of Georgia, who died on Good Friday but wrote his own obituary before he went.
“He despised obituaries written by funeral home hacks (he said that anyone who wrote that his memory would be ‘forever treasured’ should be shot),” the obituary read.
Kovac has also written a rich and detailed account of Lawson’s life, career and wicked sense of humor that is not to be missed.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. We appreciate well dressed pets as much as any political newsletter. So let’s meet Mr. Basil Greenberg, here in his St. Pawtrick’s Day finest.
Mr. Basil is a one-year-old Russian blue cat who, like any American adolescent, has a killer Instagram account (@mr.basil.cat). A reliable source reports he’s officially an indoor cat, but determined to get outside whenever he can. Mr. Basil calls Politically Georgia subscriber Erin Greenberg his person.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
