National Defense

Environmentalist Group Runs Ad Featuring Air Force Vet Promoting EVs As ‘America First’

A leading environmental advocacy organization featured a veteran, who is a Republican from a midwestern state, in a recently released advertisement promoting electric vehicles as “America First.”

The 30-second video ad released Wednesday by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Action appears intended to target a demographic of U.S. citizens — white, male Republicans who value U.S. military service — perceived as dogmatically opposed to the electric vehicle push. The star of the advertisement praises his Chevrolet Volt, a sedan that runs fully on electric battery power but has a gas tank in reserve, as a way of “putting America first,” echoing a term popularized under former president Donald Trump.

“I’m a veteran, a Republican, and driving an electric vehicle I’m putting America first,” the man, described as Mark R. from Eaton Rapids, Michigan, says in the advertisement. (RELATED: Biden’s Energy Secretary Supports Pentagon’s Plan For An ‘All-Electric Fleet’ By 2030)

The advertisement opens with footage of an Air Force F-16 fighter jet streaming across the blue sky, and a disclaimer that the use of Mark’s U.S. military rank, job titles and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement of the ad by the Air Force or Department of Defense.

“I served the United States Air Force. I worked on F-16s,” Mark says.

“I love the fact that I’m supporting Michigan jobs and not spending money on foreign oil” by driving an electric vehicle, Mark adds.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order in 2021 promising to create jobs and “supercharge” the “future of transportation and manufacturing,” by promoting domestic electric vehicle production and edging out China in the global EV market. Building EVs at factories in the United States and reshoring production of many key components and raw materials would keep the United States from depending on China for energy security in the long term, the administration has argued.

At the end of the EDF ad, a printed statement on the screen says: “Strong EV policies put American jobs first.”

Just before that, the camera pans over printed photos of Mark as a younger man in his Air Force dress uniform and in a group photo with other airmen as the words “veteran” and “Republican” appear on the screen.

The Biden Administration has poured thousands into subsidies and tax credits to incentivize Americans to buy EVs as “range anxiety” and other concerns continue to dissuade potential buyers. As of September 2022, the administration touted nearly $85 billion in corporate investments in EV manufacturing and chargers in the U.S., $24 billion on batteries and that EV sales had tripled since Biden took office.

“When I bought my Chevy Volt 10 years ago, my friends were surprised. They thought it was a hippie car,” Mark says in the ad.

“But I know performance when I see it. without actually driving one you have no idea what it’s like,” he continues, adding that he’s saved thousands of dollars in maintenance costs and oil changes over the vehicle’s 143,000-mile, 10-year lifespan.

EDF advocates for a transition to “clean” energy “as fast as possible,” says its website.

“We’ve been fighting for strong environmental and public health protections in courts across the U.S. since 1967,” its website says. “Today. EDF remains a powerful force in the defense of the country’s bedrock environmental laws, and we are also focused on the next generation of lifesaving protections.”

EDF Action is connected to the EDF Action Political Action Committee (PAC), that claims support for bipartisan candidates championing environmental causes. EDF Action and its partners routinely support Democratic political candidates and causes, such as groups like America Votes, a progressive get-out-the-vote organization, filings show.