(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is pushing former Wisconsin congressman and current U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to stop potential delays in infrastructure projects around the state.
In a letter to Duffy, Evers called the projects critical, including the state’s ongoing electric vehicle infrastructure plan, despite President Donald Trump’s executive orders related to the electric vehicle industry.
“I write to encourage you to take immediate action to end the unlawful and harmful obstructions to federal approvals and federal funding for crucial transportation projects across the nation and here in your home state of Wisconsin,” Evers wrote in the letter. “The chaos caused by President Trump’s executive orders and subsequent actions by federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, have led to delays and uncertainty about the availability of congressionally approved transportation funding programs and the projects these programs Congress intended to support.”
As previously reported by The Center Square, Trump signed an executive order to end the Biden administration’s transition to electric vehicles via a tailpipe regulation as one of his first actions in his second term.
The rule would have required a shift for Americans to electric vehicles.
Also, as previously reported, the United States Environmental Protection Agency projected the new rule would mean fully electric vehicles would comprise two-thirds of all new “light duty” and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales by 2032. Effectively, that would have affected most consumer vehicles driven by Americans, including SUVs and many pickup trucks.
There were nearly 30,000 electric vehicles registered in Wisconsin as of September 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Also, Elon Musk-owned Tesla sued the state to open car dealerships in Milwaukee, Glendale, Madison and Grand Chute.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation denied Tesla’s request last year for an exemption to state law that bans vehicle manufacturers from owning or operating sales dealerships.
Evers said Trump has threatened funding for 15 already-approved EV projects for private entities using $7 million from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program in the district Duffey used to represent as a congressman.
Evers also says local projects like the St. Croix River Bridge project, the Muskego Yard Projects and the Highway 47 and Highway 55 projects in Menominee County are threatened with the potential loss of federal funding.
