Among radical ideas destined to run aground, “hard rudder left,” are recyclable diapers, solar-, wind-, and Flintstone cars, snowplows with horses, and mandating electric vehicles in Maine – where logic and facts make electric vehicles a fail.
Thankfully, common sense still lives in places like Maine, and across rural America, despite people like Maine’s Secretary of State trying to cancel the GOP presidential candidate and their Democrat governor, Janet Mills, trying to fast-track illegal aliens, late-term abortions, transgender tourism, and electric snowplows.
Last week, Maine’s top environmental regulator, the Board of Environmental Protection, rejected that governor’s “electric vehicle mandate,” modeled on California’s anti-consumer rush to mandate 82 percent electric vehicles by 2032.
While a small step, this reality check is significant – for Maine and the nation – as it represents a blow to modern mandate madness, and offers hope for the future.
While dark money pours into Maine to convince, cajole, coopt, and coerce Maine citizens to push the state left – supporting Democrats in power – facts prevailed. Ronald Reagan famously said, “Facts are stubborn things,” and they are.
Some 84 percent of Mainers – Republicans, Independents, and Democrats – effectively said “No, go home,” “Leave us alone,” “Thanks but no thanks.”
They told the regulatory board they were done with electric vehicle mania, risking everything for nothing, their cars, trucks, plows, and school buses suddenly going dark.
Never mind that Maine – with a history of Yankee independence and individualism – has quietly suffered an epidemic of electric vehicle failures, with school districts with electric school buses having to take them offline so as not to “electrocute” kids.
One such school district, Winthrop, had to meekly report to parents that their electric school buses systematically leaked, which – to be clear – represented a safety issue since electricity and water do not go well together. They… brought gas-powered buses back online, so all is well. Go figure.
Now, the State’s Board of Environmental Protection – with 1800 complaints – has ruled that “Maine is far too rural,” has “far too few charging stations,” and “many Mainers are also concerned about the reliability of these vehicles in our extreme cold-weather months,” so – Mr. Biden, and Governor Mills, “no thank you.”
With Maine’s sub-zero winters, variable climate, rugged topography, expansive geography, and love of democracy, letting individuals fill up their 8-cylinder trucks when and where they want, a supply chain well established, seems to work well.
As we used to say: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That said, other issues loom large, and Maine’s Democrat legislature and Governor should think about them.
Like most of the nation, Mainers want their gas and oil prices to come back down, now twice what they were when Mr. Biden and Governor Mills took assumed office. Mainers do not want more expensive, less reliable power, cars, stoves, or anything else, let alone higher inflation, more regulation, high interest, or mandates.
They do not want more government telling them what to do, much as most Americans are sick of the “more government” mantra. They want their lives back.
So, is there good news? Yes. Life and politics are oddly cyclic, and the cycle is coming. As they say, “What goes around comes around,” and it is. That one, honest decision by Maines’ Board of Environmental Protection may start a trend.
Of course, the way politicians do, Maine’s Democrat Governor Mills and 2nd District Congressman Jared Golden are now touting a new religion, reversing themselves and abandoning radical notions about electric energy, giving ground.
Golden, rather comically, now says he was always for “affordable transportation,” and would now like to reign in “regulations.” He thinks “California-style emotions standards would impose logistical and financial hurdles for Maine …” You think?
Bottom line: People – in Maine and across the nation – are getting tired, becoming frustrated, even angry – with this political double-talk, hail-fellow mumbo-jumbo covering leftist policies. Do you know what they really want? They want their lives back, they want authenticity in leaders, and they want gas-powered trucks. Period.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
