UBER ABANDONA COMPROMISSOS CLIMÁTICOS E ABRAÇA TRUMP

Artigo no newsletter Green Daily, da Bloomberg, traz hoje um artigo "Life in the Slow Lane", de Ben Elgin, mostrando a guinada corporativa que a Uber, empresa com sede em São Francisco, California, deu com relação à sua política de responsabilidade climática e energética. De um compromisso com metas de eletrificação da sua frota, a empresa recua e se desfez na semana passada de todos os programas de incentivos financeiros aos seus motoristas para fazerem a transição.

De uma política de protagonismo corporativo e de cobrança por políticas públicas de transição energética nos transportes, a Uber passou a apoiar a famigerada Lei "Big Beautiful Bill", de iniciativa de Donald Trump, considerada pela "League of Conservation Voters" (Liga dos Eleitores Conservacionistas) como a lei mais nefasta ao meio ambiente da história. A lei desmontou as bases mais fortes de toda a política ambiental e climática vigente até então nos EUA, retirando os incentivos às energias limpas. Segundo a BloombergNEF, as medidas de Trump reduzirão em 40% a adoção de carros elétricos, tirando 14 milhões de novos veículos elétricos das ruas até 2030. 

Como mostra a matéria abaixo, o CEO da Uber esteve na Casa Branca ao lado de Trump gravando um vídeo de enaltecimento da "Big Beautiful Bill" de Trump. 

Segundo o artigo, com 38 milhões de viagens diárias em todo o mundo, a Uber dobrou as suas emissões em três anos e hoje gera um impacto climático correspondente a toda a Dinamarca. A empresa havia prometido alcançar 100% de eletrificação da frota em Londres em 2025, 100% em toda a América do Norte e Europa até 2030, mas está muito longe da meta. A empresa reconheceu que atualmente 40% das milhas percorridas em Londres são em carros elétricos, enquanto na Europa são 15% e América do Norte são 9%.

A California, a Cidade de Nova York e Toronto aprovaram leis estabelecendo metas de eletrificação para os aplicativos de transporte, medida que a própria Uber pregava. Desde setembro, a empresa pressiona parlamentares para reduzir as exigências e aumentar os prazos estabelecidos.

Atualmente, toda a legislação ambiental e de transição energéticas de vigente nos níveis subnacionais estão sob ataque nos EUA. Estamos assistindo à mesma coisa aqui nos trópicos.

Axel Grael

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Photographer: Nick Little

Life in the slow lane

By Ben Elgin

Uber spent years trying to make it easier for ride-hailing drivers to ditch gasoline-powered cars.

When Levi Spires, a 51-year-old Uber driver in Syracuse, New York, hit a deer and damaged his Prius last year, a $2,000 promotion from the ride-hailing giant enticed him to buy a Tesla. Over 23 months, he earned around $3,500 from Uber Technologies Inc. in additional EV bonuses driving about 139,000 miles. It was all part of Uber’s goal to rapidly move its drivers into cleaner cars.

But things changed last week when Uber discontinued the monthly EV bonuses. Losing the incentive, along with steadily declining hourly earnings, has caused Spires to rethink his future: “My goal is for Uber to not be my main profession anymore.”

Uber needs all the clean miles it can get to reach its green goals and various local regulations. With 38 million daily trips globally, the company’s emissions have nearly doubled in the past three years, and its climate footprint now surpasses the entire country of Denmark. Yet despite the rise in emissions and soaring profits, Uber is scaling back some of its key climate efforts.

The company had pledged to reach 100% EVs in London by this year, and 100% in North America and Europe by 2030, but it’s far short of those goals. The San Francisco-based firm reported earlier this year that about 40% of its miles in London are in EVs, while Europe and North America are about 15% and 9%, respectively. Instead of enticing drivers into EVs with cash, Uber is ratcheting back extra payments and backpedaling in other ways.

Uber officials acknowledge they will likely miss their green targets, but they say the company is committed to cleaner vehicles, and their drivers in Europe and North America are moving into EVs much faster than the public. “We’re proud of our progress overall,” says Rebecca Tinucci, the former global head of electrification and sustainability at Uber, who recently took over as chief executive officer of Uber’s freight business.

After long advocating for stronger government policies to speed up EV adoption, Uber did a U-turn this spring and stumped for President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” This included Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi appearing in a White House promotional video for the legislation, which the League of Conservation Voters called “the most anti-environmental bill of all time.” The law slashed clean-energy incentives and is expected to slow EV adoption in the US by about 40% compared to previous projections.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, left, at the White House with Donald Trump. Photographer: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images

A handful of states and cities, including California, New York City and Toronto, have enacted rules requiring ride-hailing companies to rapidly electrify their fleets. Uber is now pushing back, urging California regulators in September to delay enforcement, in part because the scrapped federal incentives make the targets nearly impossible to meet.

“This is why we had to get a law passed,” says Nancy Skinner, a former state senator who authored California’s law, which requires Uber and Lyft Inc. to get 90% of their miles there in EVs by 2030. “They weren’t going to do this on their own.”

Fonte: Bloomberg Green Daily, 10/12/2025