By Arianna Skibell

Presented by Chevron

United Auto Workers Local 862 members strike outside of Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday. | Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal via AP

Michigan’s latest labor battle could shape the prosperity of American workers — and maybe have some bearing on the future of the planet.

The stakes of the United Auto Workers’ strike against Detroit’s auto giants became clearer this month when UAW President Shawn Fain announced that General Motors had agreed to place the company’s electric vehicle battery production under the union’s national contract, writes David Ferris.

The deal — which GM has not confirmed, but also not denied — could portend a future in which the EV industry offers competitive wages and working conditions. It comes as UAW workers worry that a shift to EVs will threaten their jobs.

The unionization of GM battery manufacturing could reverberate across the industry, whether or not all EV factories are unionized, labor experts told David. If a factory nearby is offering better pay for similar work, employers across the board are likely to raise wages.

That could help propel a generation of economic welfare for the working class, much like the autoworker strikes of the 1930s, said Chris Benner, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, who studies the role of labor in battery manufacturing. That general prosperity has eroded in recent decades alongside the decline of U.S. union membership.

“The move to electric vehicles and batteries is either going to be a continuation of that [declining] trend,” Benner told David, “or it could be a major turning point.”

For President Joe Biden, it’s a delicate dance. He wants to spur adoption of affordable EVs as part of his plan to combat Climate change, while boosting unions that secure higher wages for workers.

Ford, GM and Stellantis have resisted unionized EV operations to keep costs down and remain competitive with manufacturers like Tesla, whose shops eschew unions.

While a wage hike for some EV workers would initially increase the price of those companies’ zero-emission cars and trucks, analysts say the differential would be short-lived.

“It’s not as catastrophic as you might think,” Mike Ramsey, an auto analyst at the consultancy Gartner, told David. “Everyone will have to raise their labor rates to keep up. In three to four years, it will be a wash.”

It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy.

Send your tips, comments, questions to [email protected]. And folks, let’s keep it classy.

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Chevron knows methane management is critical for a lower carbon future. We’re striving to lead in methane management with innovative practices, partnerships, and new technologies. These are a few ways we’re aiming to keep methane in the pipe.

Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Zack Colman breaks down why the Biden administration is pushing to put the World Bank in charge of an international fund that would require historically high-emitting wealthy countries to pay poorer countries for climate damage.

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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is seen on Capitol Hill. | Francis Chung/E&E News

The nation's top energy regulator will consider a proposal Thursday to expand a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest that has drawn sharp opposition from the region's Democratic governors, attorneys general and national representatives.

Washington state, Oregon and California have urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the expansion request, which the states say will hinder their legal mandates to reduce planet-warming emissions.

"It's a massive undermining of the effort to tackle climate change," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told Power Switch on Wednesday, calling on the Biden administration to intervene. "We are paving the path to climate oblivion."

Based on draft environmental analysis, the project will release 3.47 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, until at least 2052.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said officials in other countries interpret the term "unabated fossil fuels" in different ways. | Andy Wong/AP

One word to roil them all
One word could set global climate negotiations on a trajectory to phase out fossil fuels or allow them to continue powering factories, cars and homes, writes Sara Schonhardt.

The word "unabated" refers to fossil fuels whose planet-warming emissions are allowed to enter the atmosphere, rather than being caught. And its presence in international negotiations is driving a wedge between countries that view abatement as a free pass for fossil fuels and those that say carbon capture technologies offer an orderly way to address climate change.

A lot can hinge on a single word. In 2015, the word "shall" nearly derailed the Paris climate agreement.

Are cities ready for EV boom?
The Biden administration's EV gambit requires the buy-in from the nation’s mayors, the local leaders acting as the backbone for the president’s EV vision, writes Liz Crampton.

But many of those mayors say their communities are not even close to being equipped to support growing demand for cars that run on electricity instead of fossil fuels due to a lack of charging stations, outdated electric grids and inadequate funding.

Market mayhem: Iran's call for Islamic countries to halt oil shipments to Israel caused a momentary jump in crude prices.

From ash to cash: Shuttering coal plants offer a chance to redevelop "the Gates of Hell" and spur economic growth.

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An electric vehicle charging at Union Station near Capitol Hill in Washington. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

EVs are getting cheaper as inventory rises and battery costs fall — a trend that experts say bodes well for the Biden administration's goals to cut car pollution.

The Energy Department is doling out $3.5 billion for dozens of projects that aim to deliver more clean energy to the grid and better protect U.S. electricity from extreme weather disruptions.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is calling for more education and street redesign programs — instead of “heavy-handed enforcement” — in an effort to curb a sharp rise in e-bike deaths.

That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

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