Some of the wealthiest liberal enclaves in the country are being classified by the Biden administration as “low-income” in order to qualify for an electric vehicle (EV) charger subsidy program contained within the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Daily Caller reports.
The locales includes Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, as well as Montauk and Fishers Island in New York. Yes, the same Martha’s Vineyard that freaked out over a few migrants on their hallowed soil.
The administration’s EV charger tax credit program — made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill — is specifically designed to route subsidies to “low-income” or “non-urban” areas of the country. The “low-income” emphasis for eligibility aligns in spirit with the Biden administration’s wider pursuit of so-called “environmental justice,” which is effectively the combination of social justice ideology and green policy.
Numerous elite hangouts and locales — including Montauk and Fishers Island in New York, and parts of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts — are among the areas that the administration has classified as “low-income” and eligible for receipt of EV charger subsidies, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) interactive eligibility map.
The nationwide charging network is a central plank of the Biden administration’s EV agenda. While plenty of charging stations are located in wealthy areas (where people can afford EVs), the IRA was supposed to blunt the costs of charger construction in non-urban, less wealthy areas of the country that would be less likely to implement them on their own.
“This tax credit provides up to 30% off the cost of the charger to individuals and businesses in low-income communities and non-urban areas, making it more affordable to install EV charging infrastructure and increasing access to EV charging in underserved communities,” the White House boasted on Jan. 19.
In order to meet the definition of “low-income,” a given area must have a poverty rate of 20% or more, or, if the median family income is below 80% of the median family income in the wider metropolitan area, or if a given Census tract isn’t attached to any specific metro, according to section 45D(e) of IRS code, the Caller reports.
But the latter definition for a “low-income” area has enabled many areas, according to the report.
For example, nearly half of the landmass of Nantucket Island, one of the ritziest summer vacation destinations favored by New England’s elite, is eligible for EV charger subsidies, according to the DOE’s interactive eligibility map.
The Vineyard Haven area of Martha’s Vineyard, another destination frequented by New England’s upper crust, is also eligible as a “low-income” area, according to the DOE’s map. For context, many of the homes in the covered area are valued at well over $1 million, with several properties valued between about $2 million and $5 million. Former President Barack Obama also owns a massive $11.7 million estate on the island.
Large pockets of Cape Cod, another pricey locale, are also eligible for “low income” EV subsidies. This includes Hyannis, the longtime home base of the Kennedy political dynasty, and Great Island, which features numerous multi-million dollar properties. -Daily Caller
Other wealthy areas which can take advantage of this loophole include a three block zone in New York City’s Upper East Side, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (a few miles from Joe Biden’s ‘office’), and Fishers Island, New York – enclave known as a hangout for dynastic families such as the Rockefellers, Roosevelts and DuPonts.
Large swaths of San Francisco deemed “low-income” also qualify, along with areas of Beverly Hills.
Not exactly as advertised, is it?
Tyler Durden
Tue, 02/06/2024 – 22:50
