California Ban on Gas Cars a Preview of What Liberals Want Nationally

Gov. Newsom of California shows the left's penchant for totalitarianism. The State cannot produce enough electricity now, but all cars will have to be electric?

From the Washington Examiner

Who can fail to be attracted to the Tesla? That sleek, silent-running electric vehicle seems more common on the road every day. The introduction of the Model 3 has put this fascinating, tech-heavy brand of car into the same price category as the more expensive nonluxury conventional vehicles. As a result, Tesla can barely build them fast enough to keep up with demand.

Nor is Tesla the only make of electric car generating broad interest. Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, and other automakers are all expected to come out with new fully electric models in the next year or two.

Even so, there are limits to this revolution. Electric vehicles are still very expensive for the low-income consumer who can’t do without wheels. Even for consumers willing to pay more for added range, they are less suitable than conventional cars for certain long-range uses. The infrastructure for charging them conveniently on the go, even though it is emerging, is not quite there yet in many places.

In 2018, the United States reached a milestone with 1 million electric vehicles on the road. That might sound impressive, but there are 274 million registered motor vehicles in the U.S. And in spite of all the hype, electric vehicles were less than 2% of the U.S. market for new cars as of last year.

The gasoline-powered car isn’t going anywhere soon. At least, not in the real world.

But then, there’s California.

The Golden State, already beset by rolling blackouts thanks to earlier unwise environmental measures surrounding electrical generation, is also now trying to force all of its residents to quit the gasoline car cold turkey. Under a new executive order signed this week by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and light trucks would be forbidden starting in 2035. One has to wonder how all these cars are going to be charged up in a state that can’t provide its citizens with enough electricity as it is.

Meanwhile, as California keeps proving with every new business-killing law that it passes, the government is ill-suited to decide how markets are going to shape up. It could well be that electric vehicles are the future, but this is not a fait accompli. There are other technologies, currently not very successful ones, but markets have a way of changing and adapting.

It appears to be lost on many environmentalists just how bad for the environment it is to mine the rare earth metals needed for these cars’ batteries, especially on the scale necessary to provide 100% of California’s market.

It is also lost on many people that China, which is taking an increasingly aggressive and hostile stance toward the U.S. in world affairs, produces 70% of the world’s rare earth minerals.

California’s far left policies have made the state a national leader in poverty and homelessness while sending businesses and the entire middle class packing for states such as Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Idaho. This new executive order will just create more problems for the beleaguered ordinary working people of California, who need affordable transportation.

Increasingly, the state's middle-income earners are discovering that the best use for their cars, gasoline-powered or otherwise, might just be to move their families and businesses elsewhere.

However, while it is tempting enough to dismiss this radical and misguided policy as merely the purview of the far left in California, it should also be a useful preview of what Democrats may eventually attempt at the national level.

Already, Joe Biden has proposed that on his first day in office, he would issue an executive order that would require "using the Federal government procurement system — which spends $500 billion every year — to drive towards 100% clean energy and zero-emissions vehicles." The order would also require "developing rigorous new fuel economy standards aimed at ensuring 100% of new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles will be electrified." It isn't difficult to see him moving toward where California is and pursuing it nationally.