Mike Magner and Valerie Yurk | CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. auto industry faces a triple threat on the road to cleaner cars and trucks: lagging consumer demand for electric vehicles, a potential glut of cheap electric vehicles from China and the possible rollback of Biden administration moves if Donald Trump becomes president again.

All of that is raising questions about whether the EV revolution in the United States could end before it really begins, especially if a victorious Trump follows through on promises to rescind regulations and financial incentives for zero-emission vehicles.

Still, many industry analysts are confident the transition will continue even in a new Republican administration because so many billions of dollars have been invested and the global market is shifting rapidly toward EVs in response to climate change.

A slower pace for EVs in America would further the lead for China, which dominates the global market at 60 percent of worldwide EV sales, according to the International Energy Agency.

“If we don’t continue to incentivize both the purchase of the vehicles domestically and the creation of the infrastructure, the charging stations, we run the risk of falling behind in the technology,” said Alan Taub, a former auto executive who now heads the Electric Vehicle Center at the University of Michigan.

The stakes are too high to let that happen, said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, senior resident fellow in the climate and energy program at the left-center think tank Third Way and a former chief economist at both Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. Department of Commerce. She noted that there are 4 million jobs in the U.S. auto industry and the local economic impact of workers who make around $100,000 a year is enormous.

“What’s going to happen if the politics shifts to Republicans after November? Are they going to say, ‘OK, (China) can have our auto industry?’ Who’s going to want to see the industry move?” Hughes-Cromwick said.

Trump has made clear his animosity toward EVs, telling advocates for the technology to “ROT IN HELL” in a Christmas message on Truth Social. This month he told oil executives that he would end the EV transition and asked them to donate $1 billion to his presidential campaign, according to The Washington Post.

The message from Trump is ominous, said Troy Stangarone, senior director and fellow at the Korea Economic Institute, a Washington-based organization promoting U.S. ties to South Korea, which shipped more than 1.2 million vehicles to the U.S. in 2023.

“The most likely outcome of a Trump presidency would be to slow or stall a transition to EVs in the United States,” Stangarone said via email. “There is a clear strategy by China to become the global leader in EVs and EV battery technology and the Trump campaign’s approach to this would only help China expand its lead on the United States.”

Scott Paul, president of industry nonprofit Alliance for American Manufacturing, said in an interview that major disruptions in the EV transition could also further empower China’s dominance over the U.S. in the EV supply chain.

“What concerns me about the politicization of this and what Trump has said is that — yeah, he doesn’t like cars coming from China, but he’s perfectly willing to let those companies come into the United States and set up operations, which, in so many ways, would be even worse,” Paul said.

The Biden administration announced last week it will hike tariff rates on Chinese EVs and batteries, which Paul called an important move to provide U.S. automakers more market certainty. But Chinese-owned and -affiliated auto companies have taken to setting up shop in Mexico, creating concern that Chinese autos could enter the North American market via that country.

“Because of all the state support and state connections that (Chinese automakers) have, it’s just not a level playing field,” Paul added.

Election year pause?

There have been few announcements of new EV plans by automakers this year, leading to some speculation that companies are pausing their efforts until the outcome of the election is known.

“While companies are committed to the transition, they are definitely slowing investment,” said Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, in an email. “They are counting on an easing of policies — such as the 100% tariff imposed today on Chinese EVs. It’s a risky strategy, which could backfire on them if Trump is not elected.”

Another industry expert, David L. Greene of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, said EV sales are slowing down in the U.S. and Europe amid consumer concerns about the cost and reliability of the vehicles.

“There’s a lot of unfamiliarity with the technology, even a certain amount of misinformation,” he said. “Where do I charge? Do charging stations work? And there’s the cost problem.”

Frank Maisano, senior principal with a focus on energy and environment at law firm Bracewell LLP, added that many automakers have already built out the bulk of their investments in EVs. There are plenty of cars on the lot, he said, but they’re not selling as fast as the manufacturers thought they would.

The supply-and-demand trends for EVs happen to fall on an election year where there’s uncertainty about policy, Maisano said, and so it’s in automakers’ best interest to “slow down and see what happens.”

“Consumers are not all-in yet on this,” he said. “Electric vehicles are not going away. But there are still lots of other questions that have to be addressed.”

Related Articles

Judge in Trump’s hush money trial threatened to remove witness from court for behavior on stand

Familiar playbook as GOP tries to break DFL trifecta in MN

Democratic ad campaign tries to chip away at Trump support among rural swing voters in 3 key states

Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story

DFL disavows local endorsement of northwestern Minnesota candidate with assault conviction

As far as a slowdown by the auto companies in the face of a possible policy shift in Washington, Greene said that is to be expected. “Manufacturers have always hedged to some extent,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they’re not really committed to transitioning to electric drive. I think they are because they’re global manufacturers.”

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, said in an interview last week that Congress and the administration still need to provide U.S. automakers certainty of federal support, especially as the automakers are vying to compete in a global marketplace. She added that the Biden administration has provided certainty in its actions and regulations.

“Let’s hope they have the certainty they need and we don’t have to get into a legislative battle,” she said.

But Maisano said legislation may be one of the better paths to provide that certainty, like the 2021 infrastructure law, which provided investments in EV charging infrastructure and other transition needs.

“Unfortunately, in an election year, Congress and the administration who are all on the ballot are just not brave enough to make that effort,” Maisano said.

Hughes-Cromwick said it would be imprudent for automakers to change long-term strategies during an election year. “If I ever heard in an automotive company that they’re going to alter their capital plan based on a political cycle, I’d say you’ve got a problem,” she said.

Shift to hybrids

There has been some shift in strategy in response to the slowing demand for EVs. Ford and General Motors Co., for example, have said they plan to offer more hybrid gas-and-electric vehicles that come with fewer concerns about range. Ford also scaled back production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning in April after sales in 2023 were below expectations.

Stellantis, parent company of Chrysler and Jeep brands, remains fully committed to the EV transition, though spending could rise or fall depending on who gets elected in November, according to CEO Carlos Tavares. “I have no scenario for the fact that it would stop, because we need to fix the global warming issue,” he told reporters in January.

The uncertainty in the industry is reflected in the wide range of consumer views of EVs in America.

Matthew Fisher, CEO of Gridspot, told USA Today in March that he was stunned by the response when he advertised his company’s app allowing owners of EV chargers to rent them out to other drivers in their neighborhood. What he heard was a lot of vitriol about EVs.

“It was just this sentiment that ‘you take my emissions, you take my freedom,’ ” Fisher said. “It’s mind-boggling.”

At the other end of the spectrum, the University of Michigan’s Taub said he recently was on a panel on EV technology in Detroit, and at the end he told the audience of auto executives and engineers that “it’s time to rebrand the Motor City the E-Motor City.”

“It was the only time I have ever given a presentation where I got a standing ovation,” Taub said. “A few weeks later I tried it again and the same thing happened.”

©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Online pharmaceutical brands Hims & Hers are introducing a weight-loss drug containing a compounded form of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, for a fraction of the price.

Both brands, owned by the same company headquartered in San Francisco, plan to provide a one-month supply of the GLP-1 injections for $199.

That same dose of Ozempic reportedly retails for nearly $1,000. Wegovy, a comparable product, is listed at $1,349, according to Quartz.

Hims & Hers shares were up 30% following the announcement. The company intends to provide branded GLP-1 medications to customers with subscriptions once a steady supply becomes consistently available.

The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t grant approval for compounded drugs, but allows them to be distributed with fewer restrictions when shortages arise, as is the case in this situation.

Regulators recommended in January that pharmaceutical customers “should not use a compounded drug if an approved drug is available to treat a patient.”

Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum told CNBC the company is working with one of the nation’s largest FDA-monitored generic manufacturers to make sure its products aren’t harmful.

“Over the last year, we have grown in our conviction — based on our medical experts’ evaluation and the strength of our infrastructure — that if done properly, compounded GLP-1s are safe and effective,” the company said in a statement.

Related Articles

Women’s heart risk spikes after menopause, study shows

Medical aid in dying bill didn’t cross finish line this MN Legislature session

Cambridge couple stranded in Brazil with premature newborn finally ‘able to get our little guy home’

St. Paul student with Down syndrome receives national anti-bullying award

Why one New York health system stopped suing its patients

Regulators describe drug compounding as “a practice in which a licensed pharmacist, a licensed physician, or, in the case of an outsourcing facility, a person under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, combines, mixes or alters ingredients of a drug to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient.”

The use of revolutionary diet drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has skyrocketed over the past couple of years, thanks in part to celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Tracy Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Charles Barkley speaking publicly about losing weight with the aid of such medications.

Winfrey announced in February she was leaving the board of WeightWatchers, which she had served on since 2015, after finding success with an unspecified weight-management drug.

“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift,” she told People magazine, “and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

At first, no one thought Nina White had a heart attack.

Every detail of that day 10 years ago, when she was just 51, is sharp in her memory. She thought the tightness in her chest was overexertion from multiple trips up the ladder to the attic in her Portsmouth home. Her husband thought it was indigestion from tacos.

But her sister, who has a medical technology background, urged her to go to the emergency room and get a blood test that can detect heart attacks for a brief period after they’ve happened. When she got there, even the doctor told her he didn’t think she’d had one.

Then, the test came back positive for troponin, a protein released when the heart is damaged.

“It was horrifying,” White said. “So many people die in the first year after a heart attack, and I was terrified. I was waiting for it to happen.”

Heart disease is the leading killer of women as well as men, but it’s often under-recognized in women, said Dr. Dena Krishnan, White’s cardiologist for the past two years. Krishnan practices at the Bon Secours-affiliated Cardiovascular Specialists clinic in Suffolk.

“What you notice is women tend to have had symptoms for longer,” Krishnan said. “It’s really bad by the time they come to seek help.”

New research may help explain the complex reasons why heart risk increases sharply after menopause. Now, there’s evidence that as their estrogen drops, women’s risk rises faster than that of men the same age. Arterial plaque increased twice as fast on average in postmenopausal women than in men with similar demographics and medical status, according to research presented last month at an American College of Cardiology conference based on a study of 579 postmenopausal women.

Doctors have long known that estrogen seems to provide protection against heart disease. But it’s hard to pinpoint how menopause interacts with other risk factors, like genetics and lifestyle, in part because its onset and length vary so significantly among women.

“What this more recent study was showing is that we have some preventative testing that we can do to look at otherwise low-risk women, say ages 40 to 70, and see, is there anything else they should be doing?” Krishnan said.

White thought she was low risk. Other than her grandmother, whose heart attack the family attributed to smoking, she wasn’t aware of any family history of heart disease. Neither of her two older siblings had been diagnosed with it then.

But White said she had a hysterectomy at age 42 due to severe endometriosis, a painful condition in which uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus. The effect a hysterectomy has on estrogen production depends on what exactly is removed; if the uterus and both ovaries are removed, “surgical menopause” begins immediately. But even if only the uterus is removed and both ovaries remain, research shows that menopause is likely to begin earlier.

“It is very complex, because we know that estrogen impacts so many things,” Krishnan said, mentioning vasodilation, or the widening of the arteries, and preventing insulin resistance, among other benefits. “So, they’re looking at all different reasons you may not have enough estrogen.”

Many women think the obvious solution would be to take estrogen, Krishnan said, but it’s not that simple. Depending on an individual’s medical history, taking estrogen could possibly increase inflammation or blood clots or even contribute to developing cancer.

“That’s what makes it so unique for every woman on how to manage their risk,” Krishnan said.

Women’s symptoms during a heart attack are more likely to include dizziness, fatigue and nausea, but women are also more likely to dismiss chest pain as indigestion or overexertion, Krishnan said.

Almost every woman who has a heart attack tells Krishnan they didn’t realize it was happening. Many have said they just thought their bra was too tight. But if women are feeling pressure or heaviness in their chest during average activities, like cleaning the house, bringing in the groceries or making the bed, that could be cause for concern, she said.

That doesn’t mean exertion should be avoided. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to protect against heart disease, Krishnan said, adding that in animal models, aerobic training has been shown to mitigate the effects of estrogen loss.

“A lot of people think, ‘It’s out of my control. It’s just what it is. Every woman in my family gets diabetes and hypertension.’ And that’s not true,” she said. “Staying physically active is so essentially important.”

Women should ask their primary care doctors about their heart health, Krishnan said, and if they’re having questionable symptoms or if they have a family history, they may need a cardiology appointment.

“You never want to feel like a ticking time bomb, and there’s many people who feel that way,” Krishnan said.

Have a health care or science story, question or concern? Call, text or email Katrina Dix, 757-222-5155, katrina.dix@virginiamedia.com

Daniela Altimari | CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

Primaries in Kentucky, Georgia, Oregon and Idaho set matchups Tuesday for November House races and, with many districts heavily favoring one party, effectively chose the next member of Congress. Some races also featured fierce competition to run in races that will be on the November battleground, and one featured possible meddling by the opposing party to get a preferred challenger.

Here’s a rundown of the key results so far. This report will be updated.

Georgia

Ex-Trump aide in runoff for open seat: Brian Jack, who served as White House political director under President Donald Trump, finished first in a five-candidate primary but did not clear the threshold to win the GOP nomination in the open 3rd District.

If no candidate in Georgia gets more than 50% in a primary, the top two finishers meet in a runoff, which this year will be on June 18.

Jack, who had Trump’s endorsement, had 46.7 percent of the vote at 11:13 p.m. Tuesday, when the AP made the call that he would be in the runoff against state Sen. Mike Dugan. Dugan finished second with 25%. The race in November is rated Solid Republican — Trump beat Joe Biden here by 25 percentage points in 2020 — so the winner of the runoff will be a favorite to join the 119th Congress. Four-term incumbent Republican Rep. Drew Ferguson said in December he would not run again.

Kentucky

Massie renominated with ease: Rep. Thomas Massie, who recently was one of the leaders in the failed push by House conservatives to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., easily dispatched two GOP rivals in Kentucky’s 4th District.

At 7:11 p.m., when The Associated Press called the race, Massie had 75% of the vote. He beat two underfunded Republicans: retired attorney Eric Deters and Michael McGinnis. Two years ago, Massie faced three challengers and won with 75% of the vote.

Outside groups had waded into the race. United Democracy Project, which is affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent $153,000 on an ad attacking Massie for voting against funding for Israel. The Protect Freedom PAC, which was founded by people who had worked with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., spent $549,000 on ads and direct mail supporting Massie.

Democrats did not run a candidate in the primary.

Idaho

Simpson prevails: Rep. Mike Simpson easily won the nomination to a 14th term, defeating challengers Scott Cleveland and Sean Higgins in the 2nd District Republican primary.

Simpson, who chairs the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, had 57% of the vote at 12:10 a.m. Eastern, just after the AP called the race at 12:07 a.m.

Simpson will face Democrat David Roth in a November race rated Solid Republican by Inside Elections.

Oregon

Bynum overcomes mystery PAC spending: Oregon Democrats overwhelmingly selected Janelle Bynum, a legislator from Clackamas County who was supported by many national party leaders, to take on Republican freshman Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Bynum defeated progressive attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the party’s 2022 nominee, with 70% of the vote at 11:38 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday when the AP called the race. McLeod-Skinner narrowly lost to Chavez-DeRemer after defeating then-incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader in the Democratic primary.

The contest between Bynum and Chavez-DeRemer in a battleground district where Biden beat Trump by 9 percentage points in 2020 is expected to be among the nation’s most closely watched races. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race a Toss-up.

Related Articles

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy takes a 7.7% stake in Buzzfeed

Moms for Liberty to spend over $3 million targeting presidential swing state voters

What’s in a name? A Trump embraces ex-president’s approach in helping lead Republican Party

Democrats propose ban on officials receiving payments from foreign governments after Trump probe

What are the betting odds for first Donald Trump-Joe Biden debate?

Outside money poured into the primary. A super PAC called 314 Action, which supports Democratic scientists running for office, spent $474,000 in support of Bynum, who has a degree in electrical engineering. Mainstream Democrats PAC, which is funded by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, spent more than $750,000 on ads backing Bynum and opposing McLeod-Skinner.

Last week, a super PAC called Health Equity Now, which hasn’t disclosed its donors, although the AP reported it has ties to GOP operatives, dropped $550,000 into the race for ads highlighting McLeod-Skinner’s support for “Medicare for All,” a popular position among progressive voters. Bynum’s supporters said Republicans were trying to meddle because they saw McLeod-Skinner as the weaker candidate to run against Chavez-DeRemer in November.

Chavez-Deremer, who had no primary opponent, approaches the general election with a huge cash advantage. She had $1.9 million in her campaign account on May 1, compared with Bynum’s $340,000.

Dexter wins 3rd District: Physician and state Rep. Maxine Dexter defeated six fellow Democrats, including the sister of Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, to win the party’s nomination for an open seat centered in Portland.

Dexter, who had 53.1% of the vote not long after 11:54 p.m. Eastern, when the AP called the race, will face Republican Joanna Harbour in November. But given the 3rd District’s Democratic dominance, she is favored to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer.

“I want to congratulate Representative Maxine Dexter for winning the Democratic primary for Oregon’s Third Congressional District. Maxine has proven herself to be a serious and effective legislator, I am confident she’ll take this success with her to Washington, D.C.,” Blumenauer said in a statement when the race was called.

The race was largely a contest between Dexter, Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales and former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s sister.

Super PACs flooded the primary with cash. Dexter has been the beneficiary of more than $2.2 million spent by 314 Action. Meanwhile, Voters for Responsive Government, a super PAC based in Los Angeles, spent more than $2.4 million targeting Jayapal. Much of that money was spent on TV ads blaming her for failing to deal with homelessness in Multnomah County.

DeSpain to face Hoyle: Republican Monique DeSpain, an attorney and retired Air Force colonel, will take on freshman Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle in Oregon’s 4th District, which Biden carried by 13 points in 2020.

DeSpain was running well ahead when the AP called the race at 1:13 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, defeating fellow Republican Amy Ryan Courser, a former Keizer City Councilor.

While the contest in the southern Willamette Valley is rated Likely Democratic by Inside Elections, Republicans in Washington, D.C., say Hoyle is vulnerable. They are raising allegations of wrongdoing from when she was the head of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries and believe DeSpain will run a strong campaign.

Hoyle, who had no primary challenger, had $619,000 in her campaign account on May 1, while DeSpain had $69,000.

Salinas rematch set: Democratic Rep. Andrea Salinas will defend her 6th District seat in November against businessman Mike Erickson, the Republican she beat in 2022. Salinas defeated veteran Cody Reynolds in the Democratic primary, while Erickson beat three opponents for the Republican nomination. Two years ago, Salinas beat Erickson by 2.5 percentage points.

The race in November is rated Likely Democratic.

Niels Lesniewski contributed to this report.

©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.