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When Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, it was the largest climate bill in U.S. history, with major incentives for electric vehicle production and adoption. In its wake, investment in the U.S. electric vehicle industry accelerated. But in 2025, President Donald Trumps so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated most of the incentives, and U.S. investment collapsed. Hitting the brakes on electric vehicles will clearly mean less progress in reducing transportation emissions and less strategic U.S. leadership in a key technology of the future. But in a new study, my colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University and I find that fewer electric vehicles will also mean less investment to clean up the electricity sector. How we got here U.S. electric vehicle adoption lags behind the rest of the worldespecially China, which has invested heavily and strategically to dominate electric vehicle markets and supply chains and to leapfrog the historical dominance of American, European, and Japanese manufacturers of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Electric vehicles are much simpler to engineer, and this opened a window for China to bet big on EVs with investment, incentives, and experimentation. As battery prices dropped dramatically, electric cars became real competition for gasoline carsespecially for the massive Chinese market, where buyers dont have strong prior preferences for gasoline. China now dominates the supply chain for battery materials, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, as well as the rare earth minerals used in electric motors. In 2022, the U.S. took action to change this trend when Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The law encouraged EV adoption by lowering costs to manufacturers and consumers. But it also encouraged automakers to find ways to build EVs without Chinese materials by making the largest incentives conditional on avoiding China entirely. After the law passed, investment soared across hundreds of new battery manufacturing and material processing facilities in the U.S. But in 2025, Congress passed and Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which eliminated most of the incentives. U.S. investment in EV-related production has collapsed. Electric vehicles are cleaner As a scholar of electric vehicle technology, economics, environment, and policy, I have conducted numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies characterizing the benefits and costs of electric vehicles over their life cycle, from production through use and end of life. When charged with clean electricity, electric vehicles are one of the few technologies in existence that can provide transportation with near-zero emissions. With todays electricity grid, EV emissions can vary, depending on the mix of electricity generators used in the region where they are charged, driving conditions such as weather or traffic, the specific vehicles being compared, and even the timing of charging. But EVs are generally better for the climate over their life cycle today than most gasoline vehicles, even if the most efficient gas-electric hybrids are still cleaner in some locations. EVs become cleaner as the electricity grid becomes cleaner and, importantly, it turns out that EVs can even help make the electricity grid cleaner. This matters because transportation and electricity together make up the majority of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and the passenger cars and light trucks that we all drive produce the majority of our transportation emissions. In its efforts to prevent the government from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the Trump administration is now claiming that emissions from cars and trucks are not meaningful contributors to climate change. But in reality, a technology that cleans up both transportation and electricity at the same time is a big deal. Across most of the U.S., adding electricity demand, such as from increasing the use of electric vehicles, would spark development of clean-energy power plants to meet that rising need. [Image: Michalek et al.] An opportunity for cleaner electricity Our research has found that turning away from electric vehicles does more than miss a chance to curb transportation emissionsit also misses an opportunity to make the nations electricity supply cleaner. In our paper, my coauthors Lily Hanig, Corey Harper and Destenie Nock, and I looked at potential scenarios for electric vehicle adoption across the U.S. from now until 2050. We considere situations ranging from cases with no government policies supporting electric vehicles to cases with enough electric vehicle adoption to be on track with road maps targeting overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In each of these scenarios, we calculated how the nations power grid and electricity generators would respond to electric vehicle charging load. We found that when there are more electric vehicles charging, more power plants would need to be builtand because of cost competitiveness, most of those new power plants would be solar, wind, battery storage, and natural gas plants, depending on the region. Once wind and solar plants are built, they are cheaper to operate than fossil fuel plants, because utilities dont need to buy more fuel to burn to make more electricity. That cost advantage means wind and solar energy get used first, so they can displace fossil-fuel generation even when EVs arent charging. A virtuousor viciouscycle Our analysis reveals that whats good for climate in the transportation sectoreliminating emissions from vehicle tailpipesis also good for climate in the power sector, supporting more investment in clean power and displacing more fossil fuel-powered generation. As a result, encouraging electric vehicle adoption is even better for the climate than many people expected because EV charging can actually cause lower-emitting power plants to be built. Gasoline vehicles cant last forever. The cheap oil will eventually run out. And EV batteries have gotten so cheap, with ranges now comparable to gas cars, that the global transition is already well underway. Even in the U.S., consumers are adopting more EVs as the technology improves and offers consumers more for less. The U.S. government cant single-handedly stop this transitionit can only decide how much to lead, lag, or resist. Rolling back electric vehicle incentives now means higher emissions, less clean energy investment, and weaker U.S. competitiveness in a crucial industry of the future. Our findings show that slowing electric vehicle adoption doesnt just affect emissions from transportation. It also misses opportunities to help build a cleaner power sector, potentially locking the U.S. into higher emissions from its top two highest-emitting sectorspower generation and transportationwhile the window to avoid the worst effects of climate change is closing. Jeremy J. Michalek is a professor of engineering & public policy, professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah, has been a maelstrom of misinformation and hatred, revealing how polarized social media and the past decade of digital conflict have left us. One of the most unsettling signs that something fundamental has broken in our sense of reality comes from a seemingly trivial detail: Donald Trumps pinky finger. In a White House statement mourning Kirks death, many viewers focused less on the presidents words than on the video itself. The high-contrast footage was scrutinized for evidence that it had been manipulated by artificial intelligence, and some viewers claimed they found undeniable proof. At one point in the clip, Trumps left pinky finger appears to merge with the others as he clasps his hands on the desk. Conspiracy theorists have seized on this, arguing it showed the president as proof that Trump didnt make the statement at all, or that it was highly doctored. The reality is far more prosaic. A mix of the Trump White Houses preferred color tinting, combined with the low resolution and compression of digital video on social media, can cause frames to collapse or distort. Compression adds digital artifacts. Put it all together and you end up with something that makes a metaphorical mountain out of a molehill. Before rushing to dismiss those who are crying foul, it helps to consider the broader context. Such conspiratorial thinking is easier to understand in a world awash with generative AI. When AI image and video generation tools that are capable of producing something not dissimilar to the Trump video are just a Google search away, it becomes easy to question everything. Seeing is no longer believing. Early signs of this shift have already disrupted public discourse. When Catherine, the Princess of Wales, revealed her cancer diagnosis in a video shared on social media in March 2024, it was done so as a way to quell rumors that she had died. Even with video proof, many people insisted it was AI-generated. At that time, the technology was not advanced enough to make such a fabrication plausible. Since then, though, tools have improved dramatically. The release of Googles Gemini AI image generator (nicknamed Nano Banana during its development) made it possible to create images nearly indistinguishable from reality. Paired with new video-generation systems, it is now entirely feasible to replicate the look of Trumps official White House video. In fact, it could be done quickly and cheaply. These powerful tools have been a gift in many respects. Yet they are also unraveling our shared sense of reality. Add them to the toxicity of our modern discourse, and the cracks in public trust deepen into fractures. What counts as real is no longer obvious even to the most attentive observer. And that should alarm us all.
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E-Commerce
Dr. Natalie Nixon is the CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, a creativity and foresight strategy firm. As an advisor, she helps leaders connect the dots between creativity and business results. She was listed on the Top 50 Keynote Speakers In The World list for 2022 by Real Leaders. Whats the big idea? What if our most productive selves arent when were on Zoom calls or churning through emails, but when we give ourselves the space and the time to move, think, and rest? Move. Think. Rest. outlines a compelling new framework for work in the 21st century. One that replaces slowly dying of burnout at your desk with a productivity routine that makes downtime a must-have. Below, Natalie shares five key insights from her new book, Move. Think. Rest.: Redefining Productivity & Our Relationship with Time. Listen to the audio versionread by Natalie herselfbelow, or in the Next Big Idea App. 1. The MTR framework gets you to your new human operating system The MTR frameworkpronounced motoris an acronym for move, think, and rest. It isnt just another productivity hack; its a research-backed philosophy that serves as a powerful antidote to hustle culture and unprecedented burnout. The MTR framework fundamentally challenges the outdated belief that movement, reflection, and rest are counterproductive to getting work done. Instead, it positions the incorporation of all three as essential ingredients for strategic creativity and sustainable success. When you move, think, and rest, you activate the two most fundamental elements of creativity: wonder and rigor. I interviewed over 60 people for this book, including Ivy Ross, Chief Design Officer at Google. Ivy told me about a practice that perfectly embodies MTR in the thinking dimension. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when her team was overwhelmed by uncertainty, she facilitated an exercise where team members created fairy tales about the future. This helped them suspend judgment about how heavy and burdensome the pandemic felt. This is MTR in action: using creative thinking (curiosity, imagination, dreaming, discipline, and technique) to move beyond traditional problem-solving. Ivy also organizes off-site trips where her team leaves their job titles back at the corporate office and, for example, visits a farm where they become beekeepers or flower pickers for the day. Time seems to stand still, and when they return to the office, they bring fresh perspective and renewed energy back to their work. The MTR framework emphasizes that true productivity comes from allowing space to reset and nurture the workplaces most vital assets of mental health, imagination, and capacity to grow. This integrated approach enables flourishing in our modern world. 2. Shift focus from productivity to cultivation MTR provokes a fundamental shift from traditional, quantitative productivity metrics that focus solely on outputs and speed to one of cultivation. This isnt just semantic wordplayits a complete reframing of how we approach work and success. Cultivation embraces a both/and paradigm: It values both the individual and the collective. It honors both quick growth spurts and slow, steady shifts. It acknowledges both the work output, which is dormant and percolating beneath the surface, and the work outputs we can visibly measure. Angela Val, CEO of Visit Philadelphia, told me, I would rather be a company that does a few things really well than 100 things kind of so-so. That means we have to make room for other new projects, new ideas. The only way to do that is to evaluate both the new ideas that people are suggesting and also evaluate the work that we currently do every so often. This cultivation approach values what is emerging beyond tangible products, encompassing financial, social, experiential, and cultural value. Its about bringing the entirety of human potential to work, where productivity becomes a byproduct of a more expansive state of well-being. Flourishing is a distinctive way to think about what comes from cultivating our work. It means blooming and blossoming in bold, colorful directions, and sometimes retreating into bud form when necessary. Think of it like a garden, where sometimes plants need to go dormant or be pruned in order to emerge stronger in the next season. Ive seen this play out in organizations that have implemented new KPIs for what I call the Imagination Era. Instead of just measuring inventory turnover or cost per lead, theyre also adding indicators like time allocated for strategic thinking, frequency of cross-departmental collaboration, and employee engagement in prototyping and creative problem-solving activities. 3. Embrace play and liminal spaces as catalysts for innovation Play is the original MTR activity, a powerful energy generator that fuels creativity, resilience, and connection. As part of my research, I visited Brendan Boyles class on play at Stanford Universitys d.school. Brendan is a toy designer and consults companies on the business advantages of integrating play. He defines play as engagement that is intrinsically motivated, purposeless, enjoyable, and involves a suspension of self-consciousness. Play is a vital tool for dealing with uncertainty and stimulating innovation. But heres whats fascinating: Play often happens in liminal spaces, meaning those ambiguous, in-between times and environments where creativity thrives. These are undefined, transitional periods, such as daydreaming, micro-retreats, or those moments when youre half-awake in the morning. Observations during my ‘procrastination’ moments often led to the most insightful passages in my book. 2023 research from MIT on Targeted Dream Incubation underscores the power of these liminal states. The study found that participants who received specific task prompts before napping produced more creative stories and performed better on divergent thinking tasks, compared to those who napped without receiving prompts or who stayed awake. I experienced this firsthand during my writing sabbatical in Miami Beach to write this very book. I was observing a young woman giving a Pilates class from her laptop while sitting cross-legged, outside under palm treesa perfect example of how the boundaries between work and life are blurring in creative ways. These observations during my procrastination moments often led to the most insightful passages in my book. Companies are beginning to recognize this. Take Flown, an online community that creates virtual coworking sessions designed to minimize distractions and maximize deep work. Theyve found that by intentionally creating liminal spacesquiet, focused environmentspeople achieve breakthrough thinking that wouldnt happen in traditional office settings. 4. Activate MTR in your life and organization The beauty of MTR is that its scalable. Whether youre an individual contributor, team leader, or running an organization, these principles can be integrated at every level. For individuals, it might be as simple as taking walking meetings, practicing what I call micro-dosing movement throughout your day, or protecting time for 90-second daydream breaks for what appears to be unproductive thinking but actually seeds an innovative idea. For teams, consider regularly implementing creative breaks where groups step away from their immediate tasks to engage in seemingly unrelated activities. Spotify does this through their squad model, where teams regularly rotate members and share learnings across different projects. And Publicis Le Truc, an internal creativity catalyst, has designed its physical space to enable teams to meet in diverse areas, with serendipity in mind, to spark new thinking. For organizations, its about creating systematic support for MTR activities. This might include offering sabbaticals. Tech companies like Meta provide these extended breaks after five years of service. Or implementing what I call apprenticeship models where knowledge flows both up and down the organizational hierarchy. AI can serve as a thinking partner, helping us frame more effective questions and explore ideas from new perspectives. Now heres something crucial: MTR is not anti-technology. Its about developing a more intentional relationship with the tech tools that surround us to enhance our thinking processes. AI can serve as a thinking partner, helping us frame more effective questions and explore ideas from new perspectives. Apps like Freedom or Forest can help minimize distractions during focused work periods. Digital mind-mapping tools can help us organize thoughts more effectively. The key is remembering that the I in AI stands for intelligencebut youre still in charge of your own imagination. We need not only big datathe birds eye viewbut also what I call deep data: the worms eye view insights that come from exploratory observations, interpersonal interactions, and story. 5. Lets look ahead Were at a perfect inflection point in history. We have an unprecedented opportunity to evolve the ways we view work and productivity. Were not just experiencing a technology revolution. Were in the midst of a human revolution. The organizations and individuals who will thrive in this Imagination Era are those who understand that creativity is a must-have for navigating uncertainty, driving innovation, and creating meaningful value. MTR gives us a framework for accessing our unique human capacity for innovation. It helps us build career resilience, prevent burnout, and create space for the strategic thinking that leads to breakthrough solutions. The goal is to unlock your full potential and cultivate a more meaningful work life. When you move, think, and rest, youre not procrastinating. Youre accessing the most human parts of yourself that cant be automated or replicated by technology. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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