Governor Newsom of California has announced that he is ruling that by 2035 there will be no passenger cars sold in the state with an internal combustion engine. This is in a state that can’t even keep the lights on today without rolling blackouts and we are going to put huge pressure on the electric grid to charge all those millions of EVs.
I wonder…
A few years ago we had an environmentalist speak at PIE. He was from Washington state and told stories about politicians who would come up with ‘environmental’ programs like schools that were built to be 100% in line with environmental requirements. The problem was that when you went back and looked at the school when it was finished its carbon footprint was much greater than a traditionally built institution.
But there was another issue. That is the ‘staying power’ of the politicians. They would come up with a program (like the green schools) then in a few years get distracted and let that program go by the wayside in favor of some other flavor of the month that was coming down the pike. Or the idea would be proven untenable (like the high speed rail in California) and simply wither away.
Since California is committed to ‘renewable’ energy and can’t keep the lights on with wind and solar (seems that neither work so well at night) how can it supply its 15,000,000 vehicles with electricity? Well I guess these are details to be worked out later. Its sort of like the old joke of the fellow who was going to travel to the Sun and when he was told that he would burn up he mentioned his solution, he was going to go at night.
This plan is from the same leadership that prevented the proper management of forests and led to the wildfires that have plagued the west for the past few years.
If, as the governor predicted, the price of EVs will be falling and their popularity will be increasing over the next decade or so, why not just leave well enough along and let the marketplace handle the situation. If the change from fossil fuels to EVs happened naturally, there would be time for the power companies to adjust to the new electricity requirements without the intervention of the government.
But then, when did you ever meet a politician that didn’t want to force something down the throats of the populace? It’s in their nature.
JVH
