Today, the U.S. Treasury Department released its electric vehicle (EV) tax credit guidance. The guidance is meant to clarify which electric vehicles will be eligible for the $7,500 tax credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act. After the release, Earthjustice Senior Research and Policy Analyst Gavriella Keyles issued the following statement: 

“We appreciate Treasury’s hard work on a challenging technical task, and we are pleased that the 30D tax credit will increase transparency in our vehicle battery supply chains. Knowledge is power, and we hope that better understanding around where our battery minerals come from will help automakers and policymakers improve human rights, labor conditions, and environmental impacts from mineral extraction, processing, transport, and recycling, both domestically and internationally.

“In addition to incentivizing a zero-emissions transportation future, we hope these incentives will begin to transform our vehicle supply chain — through increased recycling, and better sourcing transparency and governance — to be more just, equitable, and safe for communities and the environment. We look forward to working with the administration to make more substantive changes towards this aim.

“Electrifying our vehicle fleet is essential to tackling the climate crisis, as transportation contributes the most greenhouse gases to the atmosphere of any industry in the United States. Putting more EVs on the road in place of combustion vehicles will reduce health-harming air pollution and help us reach our climate goals.”