California Banning Gas Vehicles By 2035, and Gatekeeping By Recommending Books

The Garrett Ashley Mullet Show

Some charming quotes this week from Democrats – including one current governor, one candidate for governor, and even the President of the United States - with regards to Republicans are worth a glance.

“And we are here to say that the era of Trump, and Zeldin and Molinaro, just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, ok?” “Get out of town. Because you do not represent our values. You are not New Yorkers.”

So said New York Governor Kathy Hochul to her Republican opponents.

Democrat nominee for Florida governor Charlie Crist also chimed in.

“Those who support the governor should stay with him and vote for him, and I don’t want your vote.” “If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there!”

Then there was President Biden himself on Monday.

“It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.” “The MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security.” “They’re a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace political violence. They don’t believe in democracy.”

But California’s Air Resources Board announced this week that they are going to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. And according to an article by William Johnson at Teslerati.com, California’s regulations are accepted in 14 other states and the District of Columbia, so 17 State Attorney Generals are suing in federal court to block the move.

This is to say that we should not just read this news as being one state out of 50 having decided something for itself. California is not just one of the wealthiest and most influential states in the Union. It’s also one of the biggest economies in the world, and 28% of these United States look to its regulatory board to set their standards, including Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.

This move comes as Ford just announced an $8,475 increase in the price of their 2023 Electric Mustang compared with the 2022 model immediately after the Biden administration announced an EV tax credit of $7500, citing “significant material cost increases” and “evolving market conditions.”

An article at The Daily Wire by Zach Jewell reports “Materials such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel have become harder to get, with China dominating cobalt and lithium production. That, coupled with supply chain issues, resulted in the cost of raw materials for EV production doubling from March 2020 to May 2022."

The government should not be centrally planning and paternalistically declaring that individual consumers are disallowed from buying the most inexpensive and dependable vehicles available. And central planning of this kind is exactly why we are right now seeing inflation at levels not seen in decades, and why we are seeing shortages of so many goods and materials across the economy in recent years where just previously there was an abundance.

A doubling of costs for raw materials needed for EV production in just two years should lead us to ask how much more will they rise in the next dozen. And what are the economic and national security implications of China dominating global cobalt and lithium production, with America on what seems like a collision course with China over Taiwan?

The real question cannot be limited to whether some of us want a clearer view of the mountains. Yet at the risk of seeming to gatekeep the conversation, I would recommend some books to study, and soon.

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