Let them drive Teslas
Last week, Washington governor and dictator Jay Inslee signed the new 2022 transportation budget. The headline of his announcement says it all: “Years in the making, one climate bill is allowing legislators to boldly reinvent transportation in Washington.” (bit.ly/36Ts7gH).
It’s important to recognize that it’s taken many years of plotting and dealmaking to “reinvent transportation.” Even in 2018, the governor’s policy advisor was promoting electric vehicles (bit.ly/3x1fWct). The result of this myopic focus is the heavy hand of government forcing a technology solution that’s not ready for prime time.
This year, the Washington state Democrats slipped the “goal” of “Clean Cars 2030” into the transportation budget. However, “Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, the ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, said the goal is unrealistic and the barriers are too high. He's concerned the goal will morph into a mandate. ‘The market should dictate the switch to electric vehicles,’ he said” (bit.ly/3LCq7rT).
The result of Clean Cars 2030 is an unreasonable goal, an outrageous lack of planning and infrastructure, with the state government picking winners and losers. All of this will be funded by raising our taxes and fees. What could go wrong?
At the federal level, the story is almost exactly the same. The entire Biden Administration is pushing electric vehicles. On Twitter, on March 31, President Joe Biden’s office announced: “If you take advantage of the next generation of electric vehicles, the typical driver will save about $80 a month in perpetuity from never having to pay at the gas pump again” (bit.ly/3NKkwSe). Many Twitter commenters pointed out that after purchasing an electric vehicle and a home charging station, that most people would owe thousands more every month. The anticipated $80 a month in savings is a silly, out-of-touch talking point.
In addition, the increased demand for electricity will cause the prices for power to increase dramatically. It’s hard-hearted and detached from reality to recommend a solution most working Americans cannot afford, especially during a period of rapidly rising inflation that makes it harder to simply pay for housing and food!
Let’s consider the law of supply and demand. Imagine that every driver in Washington state agrees to purchase an electric vehicle. How many electric passenger vehicles will be needed? That would be 2,935,656, or roughly three million vehicles. (bit.ly/36TsxUj). In 2021, Tesla says it delivered 936,172 vehicles around the world (bit.ly/3iZHlTN). Tesla doesn’t release information on how much of their production is sold in the United States, so let’s just assume at least half, or around 470,000 vehicles.
If Tesla would agree to sell ALL of this estimated U.S. inventory to Washington state drivers, that would mean it would take 6.4 years to replace ALL the passenger vehicles in Washington. That’s assuming production levels stay the same (production would likely increase) and Washington state drivers could somehow get the entire supply of new Teslas (we would not). It’s magical thinking to pretend that replacing the entire Washington state passenger vehicle fleet could happen in only 8 years.
With not-enough cars available, what happens to price? When government mandates artificially increase demand, the price of vehicles at the dealer will INCREASE. On top of that, our current inflation rates will push prices of electric vehicles even further out of reach for everyday Americans.
Here’s the end result that’s obvious to most working people: Using the excuse of “climate emergency”, our state and federal government is working to end all freedom of movement and travel, except for the wealthy and/or the connected. This so-called climate emergency is based on the theory of man-caused “climate change”, which has yet to be scientifically proven. However, “environmentalists” and “experts” will try to scare you into believing the sky is falling and the oceans are rising and we must take action NOW!!
Our governments have developed a bad habit of using fear to manipulate. Why are you being manipulated? Who is doing the manipulation? Who benefits if you just go along with the program? Do those in power also make the same sacrifices you are being asked to make? Or are there exceptions for the “elites?”
If the experts succeed in their push for all electric vehicles by 2030, do you lose or give up freedoms? Will you lose the freedom to buy the vehicles you really want? Will you lose the freedom to travel whenever and wherever you want? Will you lose the freedom of efficient, fast, safe, and easy personal transportation?
Many climate scientists do not agree there is a climate crisis (bit.ly/3pKuxVn). Are you willing to give up your freedom for the scary lie of “climate crisis” or “global warming”? Are you going to give up your freedom for a lie, again? Seriously? You’re not going to have any freedoms left if you continue to listen to our elected leaders and their “experts”.
Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own.