By Tina Grazier
Last Friday a decision was made by a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in California.
The goal pushed by those running the California Air Resources Board is quite simple on paper; fifteen percent of new cars and small trucks sold in California are to be run on batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, or plug-in hybrid technology by 2025. They expect 70 thousand of them to be tooling around California by 2018 and 1.4 million by 2025 to meet their zero emissions standard. Will Californians buy on their own or be arm twisted into purchases?
Fed up with being pushed around? Me too!
This mandate will force (expensive) development and production in the already struggling auto industry to meet such standards. It will also require compliance by the citizens of this state. How will this mandate be enforced? Will the Brown, ahem, green shirts begin hitting the streets ready to ticket and fine people for failing to drive the right vehicle? Will California drivers be tossed in jail or refused a drivers license if they don’t obey the decree? On a very serious note…will Californian’s be able afford these cars given the terrible economy and lack of job opportunities in the sinking ship formerly known as the Golden State?
These cars certainly aren’t cheap!
An example is the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, listed at $32,998.00 standard and $35,998.00 for a top of the line model. The Chevy Volt costs nearly twice as much as the Chevy Cruze, even after a $7,500 federal tax credit. And some car dealers say the mandates will “stifle growth” in the industry. A recent study found that people are holding on to their vehicles a lot longer, some up to ten years or more. Who can blame them? With high gas prices and uncertainty about alternative vehicle performance and cost makes buying a risky proposition.
But the control freak bureaucrats on the left will have none of that. They are positioning themselves across the country to decide what and when you SHALL BUY STUFF whether it be vehicles…or health Insurance…or fuel types…or the school lunch your kids eat!
What’s next?
I won’t answer that because it would only give them more ideas and they’re busy enough stomping all over the rights of the individual to pursue happiness as he sees fit and as his pocketbook will allow.
I keep thinking about freedom, curiosity, and the incredible power of a good idea. These things have compelled entrepreneurs to invent and bring to the world some of the most remarkable and life saving products the world has ever seen. Enthusiasm and curiosity fuel these efforts and the people respond by creating great demand. If the zero emissions vehicle is such a good idea why are the warming freaks so obsessed with forcing them on the public? Why must they try to manage the results from this good idea? Don’t they believe in it? Americans have always gotten behind a good idea and supported it…why push so hard?
It could be that they have been found out and time is not on their side!
Global Warming theorists have lied and cheated to make global warming an issue of dire importance. Followers have used, and continue to use, the power of government to manipulate individual choice and to impose fees, regulations and mandates. They have used consensus (superstition?,,,unreasonable fear…greed) to sell the theory that man is causing a global warming disaster despite opinions from the scientific community that dispel such notions.
Voo doo science…and hype are not good enough reasons to force me or anyone else to purchase a high priced, unproven vehicle. According to this site, “demand is in its infancy” so I gather the public hasn’t quite bought into either the theory or the fix. But here’s the truth of the matter; the bureaucratic control freaks have got to go. Please, let’s stop them before both freedom and entrepreneurial innovation is lost.
When the technology and the price improve absolutely nothing will stop Californians from purchasing the new technology cars…hey…it could happen by 2025!
Geez, you sound like a three-year-old who won’t eat her carrots.
“I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.” Well, don’t then.
You don’t suppose those researcher’s are right about the origins of “conservative” ideology?
How about we give 25% of the families in Chico free plug-in electric cars. Let them all plug in to charge up–in the summer–on a 100+ degree day with all the indoor AC running. Just what do you think will happen to the electrical grid? Remember those rotating black-outs?
The flaw of the process for government. The California Air Resources Board should be a technical advisor to the legislature. Once the Board develops a recommendation it should be forwarded to the full legislature for consideration and a vote of the duly elected representatives.
“This mandate will force (expensive) development and production in the already struggling auto industry to meet such standards.”
-comment made by California State Legislator regarding mandatory pollution control devices
in 1965
“will Californian’s be able afford these cars given the terrible economy and lack of job opportunities . . .?”
-CEO Royal Dutch Shell
in 1965
“Voo doo science…and hype are not good enough reasons to force me or anyone else to purchase a high priced, unproven vehicle.”
-lament of an ignorant fool who believed the hype
in 1965
Thanks for the visit down memory lane, Tina!
In California in particular, utilities charge higher per kWh rates as energy consumption rises above established baselines with the top tier set at the highest rates to discourage consumption at those levels. Also during cold weather you have to decide if being warm in your fuel Cell vehicle verse the need to drive it further, or driving it at night with headlights on. So I have a question, now that one shoe has dropped, where is a almost bankrupt State going to find the money to build more electric producing plants, that the EPA will approve of by 2018 and then again prior to 2025 as the number of Electric vehicles that have been mandated are on the road? Also will we be mandated in say a 2 car family that one must be hybrid or all electric? That’s the next shoe that should get your attention, not to mention the additional tax dollars and operating costs.
When the free market comes out with a 4×4 truck that can haul my firewood or pull a trailer and gets 50mpg, or can run on electricity without needing a recharge every ten miles, THEN I will consider buying one (if it is affordable).
It is not government’s place to tell us what to drive or how to live our lives. That is the opposite of freedom and a taking of our liberty. The fact that government has been getting away with its encroachments on our liberties for years now is no reason to allow anymore. It is time for free people to push back.
I find it amusing that someone who claims to be a Ron Paul supporter is so eager and defensive of government squashing our freedoms. It’s exactly the argument I would expect from leftist democrats, however.
Not to mention these cars are dangerous, they are so quiet you cannot hear them.
Can’t go far as we will need to power the battery, where is the electricity coming from?
Liberals have “grandeous ideas” with no thought.
RHT447 You’re way ahead of them!
The impact that electric cars will have on demand doesn’t occur to our little green pals. They think of that plug in the wall as a free energy source.
We have similar goals to make solar and wind supply 33% of Californias energy by 2020. What they haven’t said is how expensive it will be.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/23/MNLV1M1CET.DTL
Once again they must control what happens…and apparently at any cost.
“When the free market comes out with a 4×4 truck that can haul ….”
This is where you’re not getting it. Nobody expects you to haul nothing in your Prius. The Prius is for commuters, who make most of the mess. It’s us urbanites who are gonna have to pony up. So chill. But … still … you’re going to have to start paying what it REALLY costs society to run that Ram Truck!
The issue with hybrid vehicles is how to rescue vehicle occupants if they are involved in an automobile accident.
Hybrid vehicles are silent when only their electric motor is running. After an accident, emergency responders cannot tell if the hybrid is running or if it is in gear. What about voltage? Hybrid vehicles pack hundreds of volts of electricity within their engines. If first responders fail to verify that the hybrid is disabled before they attempt to rescue injured victims, the electric power of a hybrid could easily injure or kill someone. How do they turn the car off? As soon as emergency workers have determined that the accident vehicle is a hybrid, then comes the process of making sure the car is turned off so that there is no danger of electrocution. Turning off the ignition is the easiest way, but what if the accident makes access difficult or impossible? Plus, even once the hybrid is turned off, the electrical system can carry a deadly charge for 5-10 minutes. A lot of what is stated above sure makes that Ram truck seem safer, no matter the cost of gas or Kilowatts
Harold you brought up an interesting point a lot of people never stopped to consider….crash safety to occupants and even to rescuers. Aside from the serious crash safety issues what about pollution? As I understand it, there’s a great deal of toxic chemicals used to make the batteries and they find their way into the ground and air. in addition when the battery is used up it’s almost impossible to recycle, because their are so many heavy metals and dangerous chemicals involved. I heard that the pollution to make one hybrid great exceeds that of the average car.
Not too long ago Our folks under the dome mandated that all children under a certain height and or age would need booster seats. How does a family of four handle this in a smaller car that we are supposed to drive?
Not to mention they are dangerous.
Great point Harold, I think that hybrids are a great idea but its going to be some years before all safety issues are addressed. Its funny how people think that Hybrids are going to solve the worlds energy problems!