EV Trucks For California = Big Problems
By Mark Fernwood, a member of the Contra Costa Republican Central Committee and a Danville resident.
Our crazy California government is now proposing medium and large trucks slowly be replaced by “green” electric power. This is totally unrealistic. Electric cars are mostly used for relatively short commutes and trips. Trucking, by contrast, is largely for long distance.
EV’s are being pushed as we are told they are ‘green.’ Most assume that as they are electric, they emit no CO2. According to the Institute for Energy Research, 67.4% of electricity generation in the US is from fossil fuels. Hydro and nuclear supplies most all of the balance. Coal, alone, is 39%. Solar is only about 1% despite all the subsidies. The reality is that the ‘green’ EV or truck is, largely, a remotely, coal and other fossil fuel powered vehicle.
With coal providing 39% of our electricity and solar at 1% imagine what our economy would look like without coal.
The reality of EV’s is that most of its electricity is derived from fossil fuel. There is still more to this picture: there is loss of energy in powerline transmission, there is also the energy consumed in hauling heavy batteries. EV’s along with all of ‘renewable’ energy, exists only by subsidies and government mandates. EV’s get a Federal subsidy alone of up to $7,500 each plus in CA there is up to a $2,500 subsidy. These do not account other subsidies & grants given to car manufacturers and to component manufacturers.
EV’s are specialized cars. They are not practical for trips that are beyond the roundtrip distance on a single charge as it takes hours to fully recharge an EV.
Hybrids can offer gas savings depending on the type of use. If driven in mostly stop and go traffic the generator does capture some of the stopping energy. In predominantly constant speed traffic, a heavy battery and generation system offers little and the weight actually lowers millage.
The push for EV’s and Hybrids is built on a dogged belief in CO2 causing catastrophic Global Warming. Scientific measurement shows the minor ‘warming’ has stopped in 1998! (Google: “global warming pause”) This totally disproves the computer model predictions which “show” us to be in an era of ever escalating warming.
“Climate Change” is the rebranding of global warming so as to deflect attention from the lack of warming. This rebranding allows any bad weather to be called “Climate Change” as proof of their claims. The theory of “Climate Change” is based on significant human caused warming. No “Warming” = no “Climate Change.”
For more information, Mark recommends the following by MIT Professor Richard Lindzen: