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US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) proposed a plan that would provide car owners with “large discounts” if they trade in their polluting, gas-powered vehicles for “clean” electric ones. In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Schumer said the goal of his “cash-for-clunkers”-style plan is to ensure that every vehicle on the road is zero-emission by 2040.
Schumer didn’t reveal the exact amount of each per-person discount — the legislation has yet to be written — though he did note that lower-income Americans should get “an even bigger discount on a new vehicle or a discount on a used electric vehicle.” Schumer estimates that his proposal would result in 63 million fewer gas-powered cars on the road by 2030.