These Saturday morning entries have always been meant to be about a local issue or person, or some personal experiences that might resonate with readers and which might also shine a light on these modern times. I have occasionally ventured into national issues but I like to keep that to a minimum — that’s what we pay our nationally-syndicated columnists to do. And frankly, in the wake the past two weeks’ lengthy essays, I thought you might enjoy a week off. At least I would.
But Tuesday’s news that President Biden and his Environmental Protection Agency were issuing new automobile emission standards that will essentially turn the automotive industry upside down by government fiat and limit our options in what vehicles we will be able to purchase in the very near future got my blood pressure up. Didn’t sleep well Tuesday night.
More disturbing was what I perceive to be a largely “eh, so what?” response from the news media and the public. And they are proposals — nothing set in stone. Yet. These guidelines would force automotive manufacturers to limit their production of internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicles to one-third of their fleet by 2032. That means two-thirds of all the light-duty vehicles — cars, SUVs and light trucks — they produce must be EVs (electrical vehicles) in just nine years. There is plenty of good-old-fashioned stupidity in these proposed mandates — the lack of sufficient raw materials for batteries, technology, charging stations and an electrical grid to handle all of these EVs. (Never mind, they say, the government has plenty of subsidies to take care of all that.)
That stupidity is not what we should be upset about and, indeed, marching in the streets. If this becomes reality, the cost of buying a gas-powered vehicle — new or used — will skyrocket and be unaffordable for most Americans, the vast majority of whom have shown little interest in EVs, which are and will be even more expensive. But even that is not what upsets me the most.
This move is the pure definition of “central-government planning” that rivals many actions by the Chinese Communist government. And it comes from a president who has scolded his opposition about threatening the future of democracy. He and his administration want to force us into driving EVs because they believe that will save our planet (which is, of course, nonsense, but that’s another two or three paragraphs). Never mind destroying an entire industry, never mind destroying our freedom of choice, never mind allowing the natural market forces to usher in what many consider an inevitable EV future. (Did Henry Ford receive subsidies to make the Model Ts that would replace the horses that left their pollutants on city streets? Did the government build filling stations to dot the landscape? But I digress.)
The automotive industry, from what I’ve read, has already sold their souls to the government by accepting and then lobbying for increased subsidies to develop EVs. Now, they can only plead for more subsidies to meet the new mandates. (“Subsidies,” of course, actually means “spending my grandchildren’s money.” But again, I digress.) Meanwhile, we — you and I — have become so complacent of government diktats that our objections now may be too late.
How did we get here? The initial proclamations were innocuous and were largely for health and safety, such as requiring child-proof medicine bottles. I think the tide was turned by, of all people, a Republican president. Sometime in the mid-2000s as I recall, George W. Bush issued a decree that would eliminate most, if not all, incandescent light bulbs. We Americans aren’t smart enough to choose what’s best for us, so now our choices in light bulbs are limited. We did not protest then. Can we now?
What’s next? Will they discover that blue dye is bad for the environment and we will no longer be able to buy blue shirts? Or perhaps, as a doubleheader, all dyes are harmful, and we will all walk around in naturally-colored shirts and pants and dresses, which would also achieve a heckuvalot of the equity that Progressives desire.
Our nationally-syndicated columnists have, so far, been silent. I don’t watch any cable news so maybe the folks at Fox News are talking about it — or will if they determine their viewers want them to. There has been an editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Indiana Sen. Mike Braun has released a statement of objection. I’ve seen one editorial cartoon. Other than that, we seem to be rolling over.
Where’s the outrage?
miller@news-banner.com
