Newsom orders ban of new gas-powered cars by 2035

It’s very sad that we have such unhinged, authoritarian political leadership.

Living in California is becoming no way to live at all.

I've been driving electric cars for years, and I love 'em. Having said that, I'm generally not in favor of bans. I'd much rather see a revenue neutral carbon tax applied across all fossil fuel use. We could get on with that much sooner than 2035, and if well designed it would be a lot less disruptive to our economy.

Regulations that focus on outcomes rather than technologies lead to much more innovation and are generally more effective.

For example, set standards for the life cycle environmental cost of a car and don't worry about what technology is utilized. Life cycle costing includes both cost of manufacturing and end of use disposal - critical items in the environmental impact of cars - particularly battery operated cars.

Here is a thoughtful piece on this subject:

"More importantly, as I have argued before, electric cars are the least promising form of electric vehicle. They emit less greenhouse gas and pollution, to be sure, but they still require vast amounts of energy and raw materials to produce, and still present all the same hazards to drivers, occupants, pedestrians, and cyclists as normal cars. Despite considerable safety regulations, tens of thousands of people die and hundreds of thousands are injured every year thanks to America's addiction to the automobile."

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