The proponents at the time weren't just promoting lead BEVs, but also things that never stopped being electric or steam they just stopped being used/built in Am

The proponents at the time weren't just promoting lead BEVs, but also things that never stopped being electric or steam they just stopped being used/built in American cities like trolleys/light rail/tram lines because ICE offered more "freedom". They were calling for a return to good old mass transit options, which would have still been strongly in living memory in the 1960s in most American cities.