AMAC EXCLUSIVE
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On March 20, the Biden administration issued what the New York Times called “one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history.” That claim appears to be true – just not for the reasons that the Times suggests.
The new EPA rule is designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032. It requires a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions by cars and trucks, supposedly a major cause of global warming, that effectively dictates that gasoline-powered cars can constitute no more than 30 percent of auto sales by 2032.
Although the new rule reflects a slight moderation in the pace of required emissions reductions to 2032 from the previous target of 2030, it would still require an enormous transformation in the auto industry since electric vehicles (EVs) made up only 7.6 percent of new auto sales in 2023. It amounts, as observed by the New York Post, to “the most aggressive attack on internal combustion” undertaken by any country in the world.
Currently, despite significant government incentives, the average price of a new EV is roughly $50,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. Just to meet existing government mandates, manufacturers are already having to subsidize EV sales by raising prices on gasoline-driven cars.
Meanwhile, Stellantis, which owns Jeep as well as Chrysler, is “reducing deliveries of popular gas-powered vehicles to states that are already following California’s strict EV mandate” – just months after laying off hundreds of workers. In effect, as the Journal editorial puts it, “Middle-class Americans in Fargo are paying more for gas-powered cars so the affluent in Napa Valley can buy cheaper EVs.”
But will Biden’s new rule even reduce pollution, including CO2 emissions? As the Journal notes, although gas-powered cars emit more particulate matter than EVs do, “battery-powered cars are heavier and cause more wear and tear on roads and tires, which produces more soot.”
Additionally, “generating electricity and producing the batteries that power EVs” produces more pollution. Just to take one example, a new Kansas battery plant scheduled to receive billions of dollars from the (so-called) Inflation Reduction Act “is forcing a local utility to keep open a coal plant that was scheduled to close” – despite the fact that coal is considered the “dirtiest” of fossil fuels.
There’s another problem with Biden’s plan as well, highlighted in the lead story in the Times on March 18 entitled “Energy Appetite in U.S. Endangers Goals on Climate.”
Over the past year, the story reports, “electric utilities have nearly doubled their forecasts of how much additional power they’ll need by 2028 as they confront an unexpected explosion” in demand, owing partly to “millions of electric vehicles being plugged in” – well before the 2032 EPA mandates kick in. “In an ironic twist,” as the Times puts it, “the swelling appetite for more electricity, driven not only by electric cars but also by battery and solar factories and other aspects of the clean-energy transition, could also jeopardize the country’s plans to fight climate change.”
In other words, new sources of power will have to be constructed to meet the growing demand for electricity that EVs and other supposedly “clean energy” devices will require. It would be foolish to anticipate that this demand can be met by wind and solar power, given the inherent unpredictability of wind and (in most cases) solar power.
And shouldn’t lovers of nature be alarmed by the hundreds of thousands of birds already being killed annually by windmills? The only alternative to new fossil-fuel plants, then, would be nuclear power – but assuming that the irrational objections of ostensible environmentalists to it are overcome (objections that have led to the closing of working nuclear plants in New York and Massachusetts), constructing nuclear plants, owing partly to regulatory and popular obstacles, is a multiyear process.
The environmental benefits of an “EV revolution” are rendered even more doubtful by the harm caused by mining the minerals that EV batteries require. According to a report by Earth.org (a nonprofit organization that in principle favors electric cars) titled “The Environmental Impact of Battery Production for Electric Vehicles,” “the notion of sustainability on account of battery use” is “still up for debate,” given the “high environmental cost” of mining the lithium, cobalt, and nickel that car batteries require.
While mining’s initial environmental damage “comes from the toxic fumes released during the mining process and the water-intensive nature of the activity,” Earth.org reports, which have caused protests in China and Tibet (currently the chief source for the minerals), “the additional environmental cost of transporting” these heavy batteries “results in a higher carbon footprint” than is caused by internal-combustion engines. Since almost four tons of CO2 “are generated during the production process of a single electric car,” such a vehicle would need to be used for at least eight years to offset the emissions created by its construction. But the batteries might very well not retain their full capacities for that long.
Additionally, the production of lithium is an extremely water-intensive practice, which has generated “heavy water depletion” in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, as well as in Nevada. Nickel and cobalt mining have also been found to have similar effects in Cuba and the Philippines. Reducing these effects, Earth.org concludes, would require radical changes in the mining process, such as “shifting to low-carbon hydrogen and biofuels to process lithium.” It would appear doubtful that such changes will occur prior to the EPA’s 2032 deadline.
It is unlikely that most advocates of the EPA’s new regulations have taken account of these facts. In fact, owing to the mediocre state of high school science education, it isn’t even obvious that most people realize that the electricity needed to charge EV batteries must be supplied by power plants that currently run on fossil fuels. One wonders, indeed, what percentage of the population realizes that CO2, far from being a “pollutant,” is a substance that they exhale every minute – and something on which virtually all plant life depends.
But here’s a final question: in its quest to electrify the nation’s transportation, is the Biden administration even motivated chiefly by a quest to “save” the planet from climate change?
Reasons for doubting this are supplied by statements issued by members of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s recently restored Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity. (The committee had been established during the Obama administration, but was abolished by President Trump.) Among the 24 members that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appointed to the committee are several who argue that cars not only cause climate change but promote racism, and thus should be phased out as much as possible.
In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, one appointee, Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, a “spatial policy adviser,” who (according to her website) “researches the intersections of infrastructure, policy, and place,” and whose “passion is figuring out new, accessible ways to make cities work and feel better for the people who inhabit them,” stated that while she is not “advocating for a complete erasure” of cars, she intends to push Buttigieg to move America away from our reliance on private motor vehicles.
Her “interest” in serving on the equity committee, she further explained, “is to raise the question and push the Department of Transportation to really think about: What are some equitable, environmentally sustainable, economically beneficial, and feasible alternatives to policy that is car-centric?” She added, “How can we reimagine streets to prioritize people instead of cars? How can we create streets that are inclusive of modes other than cars?”
More bluntly, Marpillero-Colomina elsewhere has stated that “all cars are bad” given the “myriad of environmental issues and conditions” that they cause.
Another appointee to the committee, self-described “transportation nerd” Veronica Davis, similarly argued in an August 2023 essay that cars perpetuate “systemic racism” and are therefore “the problem” in America’s transportation system.
Last July, Davis, currently the Director of Transportation and Drainage Operations for Houston as well as the founder of an “environmental and urban planning consulting company,” released a book titled Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities. In it, she espouses “a different way of thinking” to “address healing the damage done by cars.” In describing the problems of transportation, she explains (in an unintentional pun?), “all roads lead back to cars.”
According to Davis, “Vehicles have wreaked havoc on the environment and communities… Racism shaped the urban and suburban areas, where even today we see the residual effects.”
Not having read Davis’s book, I cannot recount the alternatives she recommends to automobiles (nor can I imagine that most people who think themselves victims of historic racism would want to have their cars confiscated as a remedy). It is true that residents of densely populated urban cores, where street parking in some neighborhoods is scarce, and which often have elaborate subway and bus systems, do without car ownership (just renting cars as needed for out-of-town trips).
It is doubtful, however, that renouncing car ownership at large would work well in any city – to say nothing of the large percentage of Americans who inhabit the suburbs and our vast countryside. It probably isn’t feasible to bike for long distances within cities, unless you’re in really good shape. And waiting for a bus or train can use up an awful lot of time.
It seems unlikely that President Biden, should he win a second term, will make phasing out automobiles an explicit part of his agenda (even though his EPA mandates will make them a great deal more costly). But the statements issued by members of his commission on Transportation Equity suggest an ideological fanaticism that may underlie the extremism of the emissions rules that the EPA has just announced.
David Lewis Schaefer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at College of the Holy Cross.
Why should anyone with a functioning brain, believe these pin heads who can’t tell the difference between males and females? It is truly mind boggling as to how ignorant of basic scientific facts these dimwits truly are. They are too dumb for words.
We need to minimize talking about the costs and affirm that the real reason is to control mobility of citizens (“may I see your papers”) and to tear down the economic structure of America. Just as covid was a test to see if we would be herded like sheep (“may I see your mask, please”), this is to be a much more serious experiment in communist control. The trees on my tree farm are already gasping for more CO2.
Green Deal plans shot down all over in court
No energy=No EVs for 2035
As soon as Biden trades his ’67 Chevrolet 427cc Mid-Life Penis I’ll trade my ’94 Ford Ranger in. He might as well… Rainman is too senile to drive it!
Their fanaticism has evolved into a religion that is being exposed for the Sham that it is. The truth is now starting to come out and they are getting frantic. Liars cannot dance questions and they cannot stand the truth it burns their skin. They will become increasingly fanatical as more and more information about what a huge hoax this has been comes out. There are people making billions of dollars off of this, they will not walk away easy
One of our deadliest forms of pollution is the pretentious, incoherent rambling of left-wing politicians who make inaccurate statements tied to global warming and how to solve it.
They not only misinform, but they create shocking amounts of waste by championing non-feasible modes of power for utility-scale production (wind and solar). They do this because nuclear is too carefully overseen for them to arrange financial kickbacks from it.
Control the people control the country. Ideas that come out of the White House is nothing but sh… thrown at the wall to see what sticks. And for good measure they add racism into the mix. America is bigger than the DC beltway. Let them come out West like say Wyoming. And let them tell the citizens in Wyoming you can’t have a car. The economy would collapse. No production would be happening. Is ole Joe prepared to support 340 million people when there is no tax money coming in? Is he going to tax the 1 % he is always talking about they don’t pay any taxes? How long does he think he can survive in power? No more fancy money raising parties at Radio City Music Hall. The 1% are not going to be donating and paying high taxes. The dems with deep state are not busy to make America great again. They are busy to destroy America. None of his proposals are working. In the 4 years he has built 10 loading stations. We wil have have 20 more bij 2032. We will have no more power stations to add to the grid to power up all these e vehicles. And all the electrical appliances and tools he is talking about. America will just fall in upon itself. Problem solved. All this is a fairy tale. And this article does not even talk about the fires that these batteries cause, they don’t work in cold climates, and in 5 years you need to buy a new battery at 25-30,000 dollars a pop. Talk about an object being racists? That deprives a lot of people of any color to afford transportation. This is only a means to an end to get the people out of their cars for good. We aren’t obeying enough. Ole Joe speaks and the deep state expects us all to follow. There is more behind all this than we know.
Junk science. Nothing but junk science spouted by idiots with nothing but stupid talking points. No wonder a mindless idiot like PINO, the poster boy for stumbling bumbling idiots, and every screeching college kid and lamebrain in the regime media swallow it hook, line, and sinker.
Just read on another site that AI, and chip manufacturing will require us to double the current electric power by 2035. That along with electric cars (EVs) means we need to triple electric power by 2035.
More important, carbon as a gas is equal to 0.04% of our total atmosphere, of which 0.02% is affected by humans. If humans increased the carbon in the atmosphere by a 100%, the atmosphere would still be 99.93% other gases and 0.07% carbon.
Carbon gas is good and required for life!
The climate scam is nothing but a Marxist hoax and power grab, albeit a very effective one considering all the people who have been fooled.
Cars are racist? these marxists don’t even attempt to think about consequences of the crazy rules they are creating. It is only about power. Do you think these ridiculous rules will apply to even one demorat marxist? we must get republicans UP and down the ticket elected in November!!
EV fanaticism ignores entirely the pollution caused by mining the minerals required to make batteries. Maybe that’s because pollution in Africa and other nations doesn’t count? It ignores that fact that batteries are much less efficient in cold weather than in warm temperatures. It ignores the fact that long road trips will be very difficult, given the scarcity of recharging stations and the amount of time it will take to build up the network. It ignores the fact that we don’t have enough generating capacity and distribution capability to supply sufficient electricity to charge all of these batteries and we have no active plans for making that happen. Otherwise, EVs are great!!!
Satans principle angel (or at least the face being used) is pushing again one of the greatest scams/powergrabs humanity has ever seen. Global warming, now evolved to “climate change” is absurd on every possible angle. An increase in CO2 would actually be good for the planet. So would a temperature increase. Sadly, there are dollars and governmental assistance waiting all who go along with the scam, fines and punishment awaiting those who don’t. Most of the world, particularly China, ignore the scam, yes the same China that will make millions from the sale of batteries while Xi Jinping’s monkey in DC gets rid of our energy independence and the use of gas powered vehicles (cleaner and safer than electric).
The middle & lower class will bear the brunt & the pain from new green deals. Biden & rest of 10% rich millionaires will have the money to live comfortable. Biden needs to realize that there are a lot of families in USA that have never bought a new car & will never be able to afford one.
We need to see that the Dems do not get back into power. We need to get back on track and all Dems think that Biden is the answer to all that is happening in this country all that comes out of his mouth is how Trump made this all that is bad and what is all evil. Biden is the person that will save this country and he needs to turn over Roe v Wade he is all in for abortion in this country. He and Harris and the other Dems in Washington are so happy all the illegals they let into this country they do not care what is in this country.and Dems in this country must feel the same way till all there will be so much crime you will never walk the streets again.
The power-mad longtime ku klux klan associate Joe Biden has no emotional intelligence nor intelligence of any kind, doesn’t understand anything yet personalizes everything said to him. The that-guy Joe Biden can’t regulate his thinking or emotions and as a result everyone is subject to hs clownish rages, bad moods, and pouting; has zero self-awareness nor leadership skills which effects the country hugely. Joe Biden has no empathy (think spitefully not attending the recent funeral of a murdered NYPD officer) and doesn’t care how anyone feels. The that-guy Joe Biden is laughably dysfunctional and a malignant narcissist with no respect, no growth, uses others for his own gain, has no boundaries, is always defensive, and has no consideration for others. A truly disgusting slob who hasn’t contributed one thing for Amercans without his coming in through the back door.
Didn’t Al Gore say about 15 years ago that the world was coming to an end in 10 years ?
Satan’s principle angel (or at least the face being used) is pushing again one of the greatest scams/powergrabs humanity has ever seen. Global warming, now evolved to “climate change” is absurd on every possible angle. An increase in CO2 would actually be good for the planet. So would a temperature increase. Sadly, there are dollars and governmental assistance waiting all who go along with the scam, fines and punishment awaiting those who don’t. Most of the world, particularly China, ignore the scam, yes the same China that will make millions from the sale of batteries while Xi Jinping’s monkey in DC gets rid of our energy independence and the use of gas powered vehicles (cleaner and safer than electric).
The electric have proven to far less reliable in the colder climates. Traveling is also going to take longer as I can fill the fuel tank when it gets low but take longer to recharge the battery. We drive on our vacations and it would take longer to get to our destinatiion and whar are we suppose to do while the vehicle is charging.