Republicans make Biden’s EV push an election-year issue as Democrats take a more nuanced approach

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By THOMAS BEAUMONT and JOHN SEEWER (Associated Press)

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Donald Trump says the Biden administration’s policy to promote electric vehicles is a “radical plan” that would kill the economy in automaking states. Republican allies in the petroleum industry have spent millions on ads that say President Joe Biden’s tax credit for EV buyers will cost Americans their freedom.

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For voters this election year like Jim Cagle, a retired Jeep assembly-line worker from Toledo, Ohio, the concerns about all-electric vehicles are more practical, such as how he would charge it. Cagle parks his car on the street because he does not have a garage.

“Can you imagine having a cord running out to the street?” Cagle said as he cleaned his minivan at a car wash near a General Motors transmission plant that later this year is set to begin building electric drive units.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and others say Biden’s push for EVs is unfair for consumers and amounts to government overreach, and ultimately will be a liability for Democrats. Trump even squeezed in an attack at the top of his remarks Friday after his criminal conviction in New York.

Democrats have been less vocal and more nuanced, advocating Biden’s climate reduction goals while promoting homegrown technology over competition from China.

But interviews with about 20 voters in the pivotal industrial heartlands of Ohio and Michigan reveal a more complicated dynamic among people who may decide the winner of November’s presidential and Senate elections.

The Toledo area is itself a crossroads for the issue. It’s an automotive city making the shift from the internal combustion engine to electric power, like neighboring Michigan, a presidential swing state that is synonymous with the auto industry.

Toledo has not only produced Jeeps since World War II, but it is also home to oil refineries that supply gasoline across the Midwest and to parts manufacturers for gas and diesel vehicles.

It’s here where people like Cagle say issues such as the cost of gas and groceries will be more important than EVs when they vote. But during the interviews with people across the political spectrum, many were skeptical of the vehicles and critical of the Democratic president’s tax credits.

“You cannot be shoving EVs down our throat,” said Joe Dempsey of Oregon, Ohio, who drives a Toyota gas-electric hybrid that does not require charging. “Let the American people decide if it’s going to happen.”

VULNERABLE SENATE DEMOCRAT IS A TARGET

The issue has put some Democrats in a tricky spot — perhaps none more so than Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, one of the Republicans’ top targets as the GOP looks to win Senate control.

He is having to navigate a changing auto industry and his support for the president’s environmental goals in a state that Trump carried twice by 8 percentage points.

A petroleum manufacturing industry group has spent about $16 million on advertising criticizing Biden’s policy to promote EVs, and that total includes about $1.5 million in Ohio criticizing Brown for his support, according to AdImpact and the group’s reporting. In addition to Ohio, the ads are airing in six other swing states and Montana, a GOP-leaning state where Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is seeking reelection.

Republicans, long unable to crack Brown’s blue-collar backing, see linking him to Biden’s sweeping 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which created tax credits for EV buyers, as one way to do it in an election year.

Brown voted for the act, aimed at fighting climate change in part by providing a $7,500 tax credit for new EV sales to spur steps toward the president’s goal of making EVs 50 percent of all new vehicle sales by 2030. Republicans and their allies routinely refer to the policy incorrectly as a government mandate.

But Brown has pledged to oppose a rule change this summer proposed by Biden to allow EVs that are built in the United States but include Chinese-made components to qualify for the credit.

“This will allow China to infiltrate the American auto supply chain, at American taxpayers’ expense,” Brown said in a statement in May. “American tax dollars should support American manufacturing and American workers — not enrich Chinese companies.”

Brown, a progressive with a pro-worker mantra, has little to worry about in maintaining his party’s base. But he appears to be aware of the risks of being seen as allying too strongly with Biden, who is unpopular in Ohio, said former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a fellow Democrat.

“Sherrod doesn’t have to worry about Democrats. They love him,” Ryan said. “The question is, can he make up the middle? I think he can. And if he is seen as disagreeing with the left, it’s only good for him.”

BIDEN, DEMOCRATS MAKE THEIR CASE

Biden has visited EV plants and grinned as he test drove the new electric Cadillac at the Detroit Auto Show. His chief surrogate in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, has advocated for Biden’s policy, but with an eye on protecting the industry vital to her state.

“We’ve got to incentivize innovation. There’s no question,” Whitmer said in an interview before Trump visited the state in May, where he railed against EVs. “We cannot let Chinese companies be the only ones innovating around electric vehicles because then they will eat our lunch.”

Biden’s campaign notes that the president’s policies are aimed at moving EV jobs, many of which were left in China during the Trump administration, into the United States.

“Donald Trump would rather lie about President Biden’s policies than face his own betrayals to the middle class,” Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “President Biden wants the future of auto manufacturing built in America, not China.”

According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in April, relatively small shares of Americans — around 3 in 10 or less — see a benefit from electric vehicles for themselves personally, the economy or the U.S. auto industry.

John Hiskey, a Vietnam veteran from Toledo, said he thinks EVs are a great idea and he doubts the industry would be this far along without a push from the government. But he has no interest in getting one until he can visit his grandkids without making multiple stops and taking time to charge the vehicle.

“I don’t want to wait a half-hour unless they start putting them in bars,” said Hiskey, adding that his vote will not be influenced by which party or politician backs EVs.

Others said the vehicles are cost-prohibitive, even with the tax credit.

“How can they afford electric vehicles when it’s hard to afford living?” said Dru Wilson, 21, who attends college outside Toledo.

Although the petroleum manufacturers represent a fraction of what the two major parties’ political action committees are spending in battleground states, it dwarfs the counterprogramming on the part of pro-EV and environmental groups.

Environmental Defense Action Fund and a related group have spent a little more than $772,000 on ads, according to AdImpact, and little of it is targeted in key presidential or Senate states.

Climate Power, a strategic communication group promoting Biden’s climate reduction goals, has committed to spending $80 million on promoting the administration’s measures, including on advertising in battleground states. The group declined to specify how much it expects to spend on advertising and noted that its efforts will also include voter outreach on an array of Biden measures, including promoting EVs.

Missing is one unifying call for Americans to embrace the technology, akin to President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 moon landing goal within the decade, said veteran Democratic strategist Joel Benenson, who was a pollster and senior adviser to Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.

“No one’s telling an inspiring story for EVs. So, how do you develop that story and what it’s going to mean for America going forward?” Benenson said. “That could be a powerful narrative.”

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed from Washington.

The Israeli army says it investigates itself. Where do those investigations stand?

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By JULIA FRANKEL and JACK JEFFERY (Associated Press)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Throughout its grinding seven-month war with Hamas, Israel has pledged to investigate a series of deadly events in which its military forces are suspected of wrongdoing. The commitment comes in the face of mounting claims — from human rights groups and the International Criminal Court ‘s chief prosecutor — that the country’s leaders are committing war crimes in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

In one of the highest-profile cases, an attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy that killed six foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver, the Israeli army promptly published its findings, acknowledged misconduct by its forces and dismissed two soldiers. But other investigations remain open, and admissions of guilt are rare.

Israel’s military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said this past week that the military is investigating about 70 cases of alleged wrongdoing. She gave few details. The military refused to disclose the full list of investigations and told The Associated Press it could only respond to queries about specific probes.

A look at some of the investigations that have been publicly announced:

A DEADLY STRIKE ON A TENT CAMP KILLS DISPLACED FAMILIES

On Tuesday, Israel revealed the preliminary results of an investigation into a deadly strike on a tent camp sheltering displaced families in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The May 26 strike killed at least 45 people and caused widespread destruction. Most of the victims were women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between the deaths of civilians and Hamas fighters.

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The military’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said a preliminary investigation found the Israeli munitions used that day in efforts to eliminate two Hamas fighters were too small to be the source of a fire that broke out.

Hagari said the destruction may have been caused by secondary explosions, possibly from Palestinian fighters’ weapons in the area. Hamas did not respond to that explanation, but a member of the group’s political bureau remarked Tuesday that Israel “believes that it is deceiving the world, with its false claim that it did not intend to kill and burn children and women, and its claim to investigate its crimes.”

The Israeli military said in a statement that the investigation had been turned over to a fact-finding group that operates independently outside the army’s chain of command. Those findings are then handed to the military advocate general, who decides if there should be disciplinary measures. It’s not clear how long the probe will last.

SCORES OF CIVILIANS ARE SHOT DEAD AROUND A FLOUR CONVOY

In February, witnesses said Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City. At least 104 people were killed and 760 were wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which described it as a massacre.

Army officials initially said dozens of Palestinians were killed in a stampede when huge crowds tried to grab supplies off the pre-dawn convoy of 30 army trucks carrying flour toward hard-hit northern Gaza. But the military’s preliminary investigation, released a week later, appeared to back off that description, saying only that the stampede caused “incidents of significant harm to civilians.”

The investigation found that troops opened fire at some people who approached them and posed a threat to them and that a tank also fired warning shots to disperse “suspects.” But it did not directly address how the people were killed.

The military said the case is also being investigated by the fact-finding group.

AL-AHLI HOSPITAL EXPLOSION SETS OFF DEADLY INFERNO

An explosion in October in the courtyard of the Al-Ahli hospital, where thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter or medical treatment, set off an inferno that burned men, women and children alive.

There are still conflicting claims over what happened.

Officials in Gaza quickly said an Israeli airstrike had hit the hospital, killing at least 500 people. Images of the aftermath ignited protests across the region.

Within hours, Israeli officials said they had conducted an investigation and determined they were not involved. They released live video, audio and other evidence that Israel said showed the blast was caused by a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group.

Islamic Jihad denied responsibility.

An AP investigation, along with U.S. and French intelligence assessments, concluded a misfired rocket likely caused the explosion.

A PALESTINIAN MAN IS SHOT WHILE WALKING WITH OTHERS

In January, the Israeli government announced it was investigating the death of a Palestinian man who was fatally shot while walking with four others.

Video footage shows one of the men holding a white flag — the international symbol of surrender — and the others behind him holding their hands in the air. They then scramble backward as several shots ring out.

In a second clip, one of the men is lying on the ground. The shooter is not visible in the video but before the shots are fired, the camera pans, showing what looks to be an Israeli tank positioned nearby. Ahmed Hijazi, a citizen journalist who filmed the episode, told The Associated Press that an Israeli tank fired on the group.

The army said it conducted an in-depth investigation and found the tank did not fire at the men. It also said it was “not possible to determine with certainty” whether the man was killed by Israeli fire.

FOUR PALESTINIANS ARE SHOT ON A DIRT ROAD

On March 22, Israel’s military launched an investigation after footage emerged appearing to show the bombing of five Palestinians near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Aerial footage circulating on social media shows four men walking along a dirt road before a strike hits them, killing all four instantly. Another man farther along the road tries to run away before he is hit and killed. The origin of the footage remains unclear.

The military said the investigation had been turned over to the independent fact-finding group.

A GAZA SURGEON DIES IN AN ISRAELI PRISON

Famed Gaza surgeon Adnan al-Bursh died in an Israeli prison after he was rounded up in an arrest raid on Al Awda hospital in mid-April, according to the United Nations.

Bursh led the orthopedic department at Al-Shifa Hospital. At the time of his arrest in December, he was reportedly in good health and operating on patients, the U.N. said.

But those who saw Bursh in detention reported that he looked depleted and bore signs of violence, according to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. Israel’s military and police did not respond to requests for comment.

Palestinian detainees who have returned from Israeli detention have reported beatings, harsh interrogations and neglect while in Israeli custody. Israel has denied the reports. Bursh was transferred to Israel’s Ofer military prison in the West Bank, where he died.

Israeli police will conduct an autopsy of Bursh’s body with a doctor from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel present, the group said, noting it had filed a petition on behalf of Bursh’s family. It’s unclear when the autopsy will be conducted.

Authorities have released no information on the cause of death and it is unclear who is investigating. Israel’s military and police referred questions to Israel’s Prison Service, which referred questions back to the military.

Photos: It was a ‘Grand Old Day’ in St. Paul on Sunday

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It was a grand day for Grand Old Day on Sunday.

After a pause during and after the pandemic, the popular festival was back for the second year.

With a parade, music and more, it is a St. Paul tradition on the first Sunday in June.

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Driver killed after stopping vehicle in center lane of I-694 in Oakdale on Sunday morning

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A 22-year-old Maplewood man was killed in a car crash Sunday morning on Interstate 694 in Oakdale when he stopped his vehicle in the middle of the freeway and was rear-ended by another vehicle.

According to the State Patrol, the accident occurred at 5:55 a.m. on I-694 south just south of 10th Street. The driver, who has not yet been identified, stopped the 2009 Nissan Cube in the center lane of the freeway.

The driver of a 2009 Cadillac Escalade, a 52-year-old man from St. Paul, rear ended the Cube, which sent it flying into the right ditch where it struck a light pole.

The 22-year-old driver of the Cube died and a passenger in his vehicle, Nachele Avis Stonecalf Kanuho, 22, of Cottage Grove, was taken to Regions hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The State Patrol said it will release the identity of the driver on Monday.

The driver of the Escalade was not injured.

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