No more new gas cars in California in 2035.

General
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I read where, starting in 2035, you won’t be able to buy a new gas powered car in California. Personally I don’t care because it doesn’t affect me, but I do find the larger, big picture issue, very interesting.

One thing I didn’t see are plans for new power plants to provide all this additional electricity. California has experienced rolling brown outs in the past and probably will continue to do so, so where is all this new power going to come from. Does anyone think they’re going to have sufficient capacity in green energy plants to handle the demand by then? I guess that’s possible, but I still haven’t seen anything that indicates renewables can replace 100% of fossil fuels.

On a related matter, I saw where there was a provision in this so called “Inflation Reduction Act” that provides hundreds of millions of dollars to a Canadian electric car manufacturer. Not sure what that has to do with reducing inflation, but it did get me thinking about what the end game is behind this push for electric cars.

It’s beginning to look a lot like the low hanging fruit that politicians can point to as evidence that they’re working diligently to protect us. And it does kind of remind me of the low hanging fruit they used as their solution to the problem with the hole in ozone.

The low hanging fruit on that one was banning CFC, which is fine, but that hole in the ozone is still there.

They talk about how electric cars are becoming more affordable, and that’s fine, but what they don’t talk about is how much those electric cars are going to cost to operate. Not just in the cost of electricity, but in the cost of registering and paying usage taxes to operate those vehicles.

Right now, in Hawaii, registering an electric car costs 75 dollars, last year I paid over 500 dollars to register my truck. They also don’t pay the 49 cents per gallon gas tax here. That’s where all the money supposedly comes from to maintain the roads. Imagine what the sticker shock will be for those driving their electric cars when that bill comes due. But by then, it will be too late.

And to top it all off, still no pressure on the two largest polluters, India and China (although China has announced a program to build over a hundred nuclear plants in the coming years) to reduce their emissions.

In the end, I think it will be like the hole in the ozone, a minimalist solution for public consumption, but in the same way that hole in the ozone is still there, the climate will continue to change, just as it always has.

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The plan is to abolish personal car ownership for the unwashed masses, who can own nothing rent everything from a big company and be happy about it.

In the UK the date set for no new sales of petrol/diesel cars is 2030. More cities are introducing Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) where you need to pay (£12.50 in London at the moment) to drive into them with unapproved cars. Chump change for 1%ers, but an extra £62.50 a week is prohibitive for many after taxes, soaring bills and other expenses.

The sales thing is interesting, it doesn’t say purchases, or imports, exports or manufacture either, so no doubt games are being played. Germany is refusing to play ball on an actual legal ban, although companies are committing to it. So I’ll still be able to import a new German car after 2030?

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I read years ago that the miraculous timing of that was that DuPont’s patents on CFC propellants/coolants were about to expire when the campaign began.

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That’s interesting, I had no idea this was more of a global thing.

Are they saying anything there about the diesel big rigs? I didn’t see anything about that in the California case. You’re still going to need to haul stuff around, not sure where the tech is on battery powered 18 wheelers.

I agree that getting rid of emissions from gas cars is a good thing, but wrapping it all up in climate change is a bit of a stretch since it still appears a majority of the power needed to charge those cars is being generated by fossil fuels.

As with all things, follow the money. Who stands to profit the most from all of this?

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That seems to be where everything is heading. Keep paying to play.

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They are getting “phased out”, I read 2040 for them but who knows. HGV drivers need to take a break every 4 hours or so, which is kind of handy for fast charging for smaller battery packs but it would need all of that infrastructure in place.

Yup, life is already a subscription service but those pesky one time buys with no in-app purchases need to go!

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The writing seems to be on the wall. And from a practical view, batteries for individual electric vehicles and power plants to charge them all doesn’t look to be feasible.

As Snookoda has pointed out elsewhere, this type of stuff could be a good thing, if it weren’t controlled by assholes, not having to worry about the expenses of a vehicle, including upkeep, insurance, etc., while the things spend most of their lives sitting in parking spaces. And being able to do other things during trips in autonomous vehicles could be really nice. But we have seen for too long which way the wind blows.

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Did I call it, or what!!!

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I wonder how many Green Energy advocates would help push a car that ran out of gas?

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I have.

My own, and other peoples.

But that was before electric cars.

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Good on ya mate!!

But you’re one of the good guys Phil, you believe what you believe, but you still show respect.

I wish there were more like you on both sides.

Oh crap. You put your last line up there before I hit send on mine.

No worries. I still think you’re one of the good guys, and I suspect that if someone in a gas car needed a push tomorrow, you’d be there.

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Many people would disagree. But they might be more generous if they understood the reflection, and rethinking, and doubt in my own mind when I think about things, and what I’m going to say.

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Sad but true.

Free thinking is a dangerous pastime these days.

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I still think it’s a good joke.

Elon Musk ain’t pushing my car.

Or, as my favorite Australian automotive engineer, John Cardogen calls him, Electric Jesus.

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Give ole Elon a break. The left loved him until he started asking tough questions.

Just like the left here loved Trump as long as he was giving money to the Democrats and running his dopey reality show.

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I never loved Trump. I think Obama and Biden are more pragmatic individuals.

Gawd, here we go. Why do I think what I think.

Trump is a grifter. A snake oil salesman.

He doesn’t give a fuck about anything but himself.

And he’s not even smart, outside of manipulation of perception to benefit himself.

He understands the mug punter.

But that doesn’t equate to action that actually makes a difference. It just means that the average mug gets told something he likes the sound of.

For all the pressures and political weight sloshing around, I do think that Biden is actually trying to do what he thinks is right. I don’t think that thought even crosses Trump’s mind when he makes a decision.

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My comment about Trump had to do with how quickly people turn on you when you question their beliefs. The same with Elon Musk.

As long as you toe the party line, as long as you do as you’re told and blindly follow your leaders, you’re OK. Step outside of that, even a little, and you’re banished to the wastelands.

When you start portraying people as evil for what they believe, you’re doing the same thing the Nazis, the Fascists, and every other totalitarian regime has done throughout history.

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By that standard, nobody can call anything evil, without being evil.

Ain’t no easy answers to that one.

But I do know a professional grifter when I see one.

To quote Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, at the Michael Jackson trial, “would you let Michael Jackson babysit your kids? Yes, cause I trust him. Ok, cool, can I walk your poodle?”

For reference:

See, I provide references!

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There is true evil in this world. You see it in the slaughter of untold numbers of innocents that’s been one of the common threads of the human experience on this planet.

Unfortunately that is something that is always going to be with us. We are, after all, a flawed species.

Believing, as I do, that DC is a swamp, is not evil. Actions I take in pursuit of that belief, short of violence or infringing on the rights of others, is not evil.

But if I go out and express my beliefs, I will be portrayed as evil by those who make their living and benefit from that swamp. That’s just wrong on the face of it and people should wise up and realize it’s not about protecting you, it’s about protecting them.

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I get portrayed as many things around here.

Politics is definitely a swamp, but not all swimmers are equally self centered.