Wednesday, December 30, 2015

No Gas Car for You!


Yes, I know that today is New Year's Eve day.  And yup, I also know that your mind (well, my mind, at least) is running a bit slowly following the acres of candy, cookies, and mass quantities of food eaten over the Christmas Holiday with family and friends.  

Although, in reality, this post, and the one it discusses is pretty much about - well, nothing.



Remember when George and Jerry pitched their TV show that was about 'Nothing'?  
The following is a story from HyrbridCars.com; also about 'Nothing'
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Eight States Pledge To Reduce New Gas Car Sales To Zero By 2050 
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Early this month eight U.S. states and five countries pledged to eliminate the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2050. 

In a statement made Dec. 3, 2015 at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, California along with Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont pledged to ban the sale of new cars powered primarily by gasoline and diesel fuels by 2050. 

"Thirteen North American and European governments announced today that they will strive to make all new passenger vehicles in their jurisdictions zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by no later than 2050,” said a statement issued after the decision. “Achieving this will accelerate the global transition to ZEVs and could reduce transportation sector climate impacts by more than 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year by 2050, lowering global vehicle emissions by about 40 percent.”

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The countries of Germany, Norway, Quebec, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom also joined in on the pledge made by the International Zero-Emission Vehicle Alliance, established in 2014.

According to Alex Barnum, deputy secretary, Communications and External Affairs for the California Environmental Protection Agency, this decision however is not meant to be interpreted as a “ban.” 

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These efforts would assist in achieving a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions more than one billion tons per year by 2050, said the ZEV Alliance.

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It remains to be seen whether the ZEV alliance has the legal authority to impose such a sales restriction, however. 
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The states of California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont have each pledged to ban the sale of new cars powered primarily by gasoline and diesel fuels by 2050 to an organization which (most likely) does not have the authority to impose such a sales restriction.  Interestingly enough, their full proposal ALLOWS you to purchase Hybrid vehicles for the next 34 years, and then, yup, those Hybrid vehicles are 'Out of Here' also, simply because they have gas-powered engines in them.

It's probably just me, but I've got a couple of questions for the pocket-protected-clip-board-toting-tree-hugging geeks who flew to Paris on HUGE HONKING fossil-fuel burning planes about their ZEV Alliance:
 
  • Who elected THEM to vote away my rights for me?  I live in New York State - if these whack jobs get their way, I either need to either buy a non-gas-powered vehicle or drive my current 2013 vehicle for the next 50+ years (I plan on being very, very old when I die).  Like, since when did I move to Castro's Cuba?
  • The ZEV Alliance also wants to provide state monies (incentives to consumers), infrastructure (charging stations paid for by the consumer?), and implement policies that force state agencies to buy ZEV vehicles.  Why?  If these ZEV vehicles are so throw-down excellent, I would think that Americans, Germans, Brits, and others would be flocking to buy these electrified shopping carts with roofs.  What's with taking money away from the poor, the homeless, and the hungry to provide 'Cash Back!' to rich people so they can buy a vehicle which won't survive a head-on collision with a squirrel?
  • Which technologies will individual States DICTATE that we need to use?  Midwest states could, I guess, use corn (which used to be cheap food for feeding the poor, chickens, and cows - but, no more) and convert it into fuel, the southern states might choose Solar Power, but up here in the northeast, what, are supposed our vehicles supposed to run on distilled arrogance or something?  And if you move from a state with a vehicle 'running on sunshine' to one which requires that you 'run on arrogance', what then?  Perhaps the state will issue you a vehicle that you can return prior to leaving and pick up the new official state vehicle when you get where you're going?  Sure, that'd be swell - thanks for that ZEV Alliance!
  • AND if they decide we all ought to be driving Electric Vehicles, any ideas where the electricity will be coming from?  We don't build nuclear power plants any longer, Obama wants to do away with coal, so this leaves, hmm...  Fossil-fuel powered plants!
  • Who's going to replace state and federal infrastructure spending provided by Highway Taxes which come from buying a gallon of gasoline?  Huh?  Who's going for fix that concrete stretch of twisted, broken, pavement I take to work every day?  Huh?  Huh?  Huh?  Whaaaat, whaaaaatttt about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?!?!?!
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Oh, sorry, I let my inner Liberal / Progressive get out for a second - it won't happen again. 
 
In the end, this Hybridcars article is a story about nothing other than a bunch of people flying on fossil-fuel burning mega-planes, meeting, drinking (an assumption on my part - or perhaps Marijuana is legal in France?) waxing philosophic about the perfect world they believe your kids should have, and then holding a press conference to discuss their ban; which a member of the committee described after, as 'not actually being a ban'.
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Unfortunately, this is how most Bad Ideas are born - bureaucrats release whatever group-thought random synaptic firings and they see what happens once they are released into the ether.  If we are complacent about them, they'll take the next steps until we're driving ZEV cars powered by Hummus while wondering, "How did this happen?"
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It happened because you were busy living your life (it's what we do).  Someone else, of course, is busily trying to control your life because they know what you need better than you do.  As for me, I plan on being 'room temperature' by 2050 so if any of the above lunacy happens I'll leave this weirdness behind and take joyful memories of driving large fossil-fuel-powered vehicles with me.
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Drive on America.  Drive on...  Before the Grave Digger gets you.



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