The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a new program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that aims to expand the infrastructure needed to keep electric vehicles charged.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:
The White House also highlighted actions from several companies to help expand access to EV chargers, including Tesla's decision to open at least 7,500 stations in its U.S. Supercharger and Destination Charger network to non-Tesla vehicles by the end of 2024.
"All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website," the White House said in a statement. "Additionally, Tesla will more than double its full nationwide network of Superchargers, manufactured in Buffalo, New York."
Hertz and bp, meanwhile, plan to build a national network of fast-charging stations designed to serve rideshare, tax drivers, car rental customers, and the general public near "high-demand locations, such as airports."
The White House also championed efforts by companies such as General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Cars, and Starbucks to expand the EV charging network.
The administration said all of these initiatives support President Joe Biden's goal of making electric vehicles 50 percent of all auto sales by 2030. In 2022, they made up about 10 percent of all sales.
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
February 8 is Safer Internet Day, and Google has partnered with online education organization Khan Academy to release a courseload focused on internet safety. The partnership includes a $5 million donation towards content development from Google, with modules to be made available in various languages throughout 2022. Founder of Khan Academy, Sal Khan, joined Cheddar News to discuss the partnership. "We need to get to a world where everyone of all ages has a chance to learn and practice and feel good that they can navigate the internet in a safe way,” said Khan.
Big tech companies such as Amazon and Google are garnering criticism for failing at their proposed climate pledges, most of which rely on carbon offsets — a potential loophole where companies pay others to address their omissions. Gilles Dufrasne, policy officer at Carbon Market Watch, joined Cheddar News to explain the organization's negative evaluation. "The objective here is not to bash companies and say everybody is doing the wrong thing," he said. "The objective is to also provide lessons, and there are some companies that are doing the right thing."
U.S. markets opened lower as disappointing Meta earnings dragged down the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Today, investors will be watching for Amazon's Q4 earnings report set for release after the market close. Greg Swenson, Founding Partner, Brigg Macadam joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets opened mostly higher led by gains in the tech sector on strong Q4 earnings. It comes after a tumultuous January which saw stocks suffer one of their worst months since the early days of the pandemic. Jim Worden, Chief Investment Officer, Wealth Consulting Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss early market activity.
CLMBR is hoping to become the next big thing in connected fitness. The brand offers a high intensity, low impact workout with on-demand, instructor-led classes. Avrum Elmakis, CLMBR's CEO and founder, joined Cheddar to discuss where the company is heading next.
