By BARBARA SIMPSON
The world is going politically crazy and we, in the west, are now stewing under a heat dome that is breaking heat records across the country, especially here.
As I write this, I just heard a radio weather forecast for Sacramento, Calif., the capital of the state, that next week we are to expect at least five days of temperatures over 110 degrees.
No matter how you look at it, that is HOT! And it breaks records.
What does it all mean as we face the future?
We have become accustomed to the four seasons and that summer is hot. What we are faced with now is an overlapping of seasons, and that the excessive heat is something we have not been accustomed to dealing with.
We’re also dealing with the issue of air pollution and the attempt to have a greener economy. Part of this is the introduction of electric cars and that politicians have decided that residents are supposed to decide that electric cars are what they want and need for the future.
Actually, residents will not decide; the politicians will do it for them — and they are.
California is set to ban gasoline-powered cars as of 2035. Gov. Gavin Newsom has decided that, but the issue of how it will work has not been fully explained. If you have a gas-powered car, you will be allowed to keep it and keep powering it with gasoline. This, of course, is based on the assumption that gasoline will still be available. A number of California cities have already banned the opening of new gas stations in their jurisdictions and there is a movement across the state that existing gas stations are being phased out.
As far as the gasoline itself, the federal government will be implementing more strict smog standards for the fuel.
According to the new car rules, starting with the model year 2026, 35 percent of the cars sold in the state must be zero emission.
If you are wondering if there are problems for automakers who miss the target — yes, there are. They can be fined up to $20,000 per vehicle.
The goal for cars is that this would increase to 68 percent by 2030 and to 100 percent by 2035. This does not yet apply to motorcycles or to semi-trucks or even airplanes — but it will.
It all sounds like a great idea unless you consider that there are not enough charging stations in the state to handle the demands of the government orders.
There are some 80,000 charging stations today in the state. The Air Board estimates that there will be a need for 714,000 charging stations by 2030. The Board has said that the governor has put ten billion dollars in the state budget to help build charging stations and offer other incentives to reduce the cost of electric vehicles.
Never forget that when the state “puts money” into the budget, that money comes from taxes paid by citizens. Read that: tax increases.
Regardless of how one feels about the pollution issues with gasoline-powered cars, the real challenge for electric is the cost to the consumer. According to the Kelley Blue Book, the average cost of a gas-powered car now is $48,043; for an electric car, $66,997. It is a substantial difference for consumers who are dealing with tight budgets. They may not be able to afford the “green” cars that are being mandated.
There is another issue to be considered, in addition to the question of the price of a new electric car in the next decade. Consumers have to consider what the cost of electricity will be by then. Increases are on the way as new technologies are being developed.
At this point, the rest of the states can decide what they will do, but history shows that many follow the lead of California. Washington state and Massachusetts have already said they will do that and, no doubt, others will follow. There are 17 states that have followed California’s lead in adopting tailpipe emission standards that are more strict than federal rules.
The move toward electric and against gasoline vehicles is not just going on in this country. Canada has banned the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 — Mexico, by 2040. Across the world, more than 40 countries have done the same.
It won’t be long before it will be impossible to find a new gas-powered car or even the gas to put in it.
It all adds up to us being “force-fed” the concept of these new technologies and the idea of free choice being destroyed in the process.
An interesting footnote to this and the California heat — Gov. Newsom has asked that electric car owners not charge their cars overnight during the heat and that residents not use electric appliances at night because that would overload the electric grid!!
You can’t win.
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