Biden administration: gas cars are racist and a problem

October 3, 2023

Back in 2021 the Biden administration said that its proposed $2 trillion infrastructure program would expand mass transit and launch an era of green energy.  Adding another feature to that, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that it would also reverse the “racist” history of America’s highway system.

Buttigieg has now appointed 24 new members to the Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity. This is an Obama-era committee that former President Donald Trump shut down, and Buttigieg is reviving it.

This move harkens back to President Joe Biden’s executive order shortly after taking office that instructs federal agencies to "pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all." Agency heads are to conduct an “equity assessment” to identify policies that create "systemic barriers" in minority communities.

America’s once sensible and productive idea of people getting recognition or a position based on their earning it through performance is being challenged by the idea that everyone gets the good positions without regard to their abilities and performance. This began years ago when, so as to not make anyone in a group who didn’t win or place high feel bad, everyone started being given participation trophies, or ribbons, or something.

Two members of the Committee have made some interesting comments. Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, who has been identified as a "spatial policy scholar," said "all cars are bad" given that they cause "a myriad of environmental issues and conditions." The other member, Veronica Davis, is a self-described "transportation nerd," and said that cars perpetuate "systemic racism" and are therefore "the problem" in our transportation system.

Marpillero-Colomina said that she is not "advocating for a complete erasure" of cars but thinks America needs to end its reliance on private motor vehicles. She asked, "How can we reimagine streets to prioritize people instead of cars? How can we create streets that are inclusive of modes other than cars?"

Along the same line of thinking, Biden is set on getting rid of gas-powered cars in favor of electric ones. And there are now regulations in the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Safety Administration that require automakers to ensure that two-thirds of the new vehicles they sell by 2030 are electric vehicles.

It does not seem to matter to Biden and his fellow travelers that lots of people do not want electric vehicles, and lots of people cannot afford an electric vehicle. The batteries do not last forever, and cost thousands of dollars to replace.

It is also important to recognize that while driving EVs is far cleaner than driving gas and diesel vehicles, the production of the lithium-ion batteries for EVs is a process involving a huge amount of mining and the use of fossil fuels. It is very energy-intensive and is very damaging to the environment. This process may equal the pollution of driving conventional vehicles. 

When their lives are over EV batteries have to be dismantled to recycle the valuable contents. They also contain hazardous materials that must be handled with care. Further, only about 5 percent of batteries are able to be recycled. Some of the contents of batteries that are just thrown away are harmful to the environment. 

It also seems unimportant to those that champion EVs that by going overboard on EVs we are dependent upon China for much of the materials for batteries. 

The U.S. ranks 15th among the 25 nations producing lithium-ion battery metals like cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, and nickel, according to BloombergNEF in 2021. And the U.S. is expected to only move up two places in that ranking by 2025.

Sources predict that Japan, now in 12th place, will move up four places as things progress, and that is a good thing. However, China will likely maintain its dominance for the foreseeable future.

And then there is the problem of being able to support the additional demand for electricity when two-thirds of new vehicles are EV by 2030. And remember, much of our electricity is still produced by burning fossil fuels.

While burning less gasoline, diesel fuel, coal, oil and natural gas is a good thing, the actual value of this reduction depends upon what is going on while changing from fossil fuels to wind, solar and EVs. And when you look at all of the information objectively, at this point in time we likely will be causing a lot of problems for people -- like higher prices for so many things and many items we like and need will no longer be available, thanks to administration regulations -- without really making much of a difference in the amount of CO2 that America produces. 

And in considering that tiny improvement in CO2 production, when you recognize that China, India and some other countries are not trying to lessen CO2 production, but are actually increasing it, and all this discomfort and increased expense on the American people is for naught.

Someday, when things naturally progress to that point, wind and solar power will be easily the best way to go, and perhaps EVs will also make sense. That day is a long way off.

Fueling America: U.S. not capable of being battery powered

June 13, 2023

The U.S. government has many policies, rules and other things in place that work against people’s interests. In the haste to do away with fossil fuel use, we have made it more difficult to acquire coal, oil and natural gas, things that people need. And even when we have those fuels, it has been made more difficult and more expensive to transport them. Pipeline transport is much more economical than transporting oil and natural gas by truck and train. But President Joe Biden’s halting of the Keystone XL Pipeline interfered with that.

Even Biden knows that we can’t do without fossil fuels. As he said during the State of the Union address last February, “We’re going to need oil for at least another decade.” The Congressional audience erupted in laughter, and he corrected himself, adding, “And beyond that, we’re going to need it.” 

Because of Biden’s actions the U.S.  now has to buy oil from other countries, usually dirtier and more polluting than our oil, which is the cleanest in the world. 

In 2021, the Energy Information Administration reported that about 51 percent of the world’s oil comes from five countries. The U.S. led the group, producing 14.5 percent of the 51 percent, followed by Russia at 13.1 percent, Saudi Arabia at 12.1 percent, and Canada and Iraq that together total about 11 percent.

In 2022 U.S. oil production was below the 2019 record levels. That may reflect a trend in domestic oil production.

The terribly optimistic idea of an electric vehicle replacement of vehicles that burn gasoline and diesel fuel any time in the next three decades or so is a pipe dream. 

The vehicles in use in the U.S. are mostly made here, and they use fuels we can make here. But the desire is to replace them with vehicles that use batteries, and a great deal of the materials to make the batteries come from other countries.

As reported by U.S. News, most electric cars use lithium-ion batteries. “These types of batteries require several chemical components, including lithium, manganese, cobalt, graphite, steel and nickel, and they require a lot of these materials. By a lot, we mean about 17 pounds of lithium carbonate, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds of cobalt and a whopping 77 pounds of nickel!”

Here's where some of the components for batteries come from. According to SAE International, 100 percent of natural graphite comes from China, Mexico, Canada and India; 37 percent of copper comes from Chile, Canada and Mexico; 50 percent of nickel comes from Canada, Norway, Finland, and Russia; 100 percent of Manganese comes from Gabon, South Africa, Australia and Georgia; 50 percent of lithium comes from Argentina, Chile, China and Russia; 100 percent of rare earths come from China, Estonia, Japan and Malaysia; and 83 percent of zinc comes from Canada, Mexico, Peru and Spain. 

We are dependent on other countries for much of these components.

U.S. mining of basically anything useful as a fuel or in making materials for electric vehicles, like nickel, copper and cobalt, is blocked or made more difficult by government rules. And we buy lots of these materials, and other things, from China, our greatest adversary.

So, while we will need fossil fuels for a long time, and while the materials for making EV batteries largely come from other countries, the climate change faction still preaches our destruction if we don’t change how we do many things.

Not everyone agrees with that unavoidable catastrophe being the future of the world if we don’t stop using fossil fuels.

One of those people is an early member and former president of Greenpeace. Formed in Canada in 1971, Greenpeace exists “to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future,” according to its website.

A former president of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore, served as Greenpeace Canada President for nine years and as a Director of Greenpeace International for six years. Among his many credits, Moore has a Ph.D. in Ecology from the Institute of Resource Ecology at the University of British Columbia.

He is no longer affiliated with Greenpeace, and his current position on Earth’s environment is at odds with the organization, and that has earned him its harsh criticism.

Speaking on a video from 2015, Moore said the following: “There is no definitive scientific proof … that carbon dioxide is responsible for any of the slight warming of the global climate that has occurred during the last 300 years.

“But there is a certainty beyond a reasonable doubt that CO2 is the building block for all life on Earth, and that without its presence in the global atmosphere … this would be a dead planet.”

Moore is not the only scientist who disbelieves the idea that CO2 will someday destroy humanity. And the accuracy of previous predictions of environmental catastrophe is stunningly poor. 

Not burning fossil fuels is certainly a worthy goal. And it is a goal that will eventually be reached as the natural development of alternative energy proceeds.

These manic efforts to force these not-yet-capable energy sources into use is expensive, and works against the needs and desires of the people.

Is now really the right time to buy an electric vehicle?

November 15, 2022

One of the things the green movement strongly encourages is moving away from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles and replacing them with electric vehicles (EVs). Since EVs don’t burn gasoline or diesel fuel, they do not emit CO2 into the air, and this is one of the major advantages of EVs. There are also other positive things about EVs.

Some of those advantages, according to drivingelectric.com, are that they are simpler and more reliable. They are quiet and relaxing, but can also be fast and exciting. And since they have smaller engines and their very large batteries can be laid out underneath the vehicle, they have more luggage space and more legroom for passengers.

But there are other factors to the story.

Libertarian author, commentator, and consumer journalist John Stossel wrote an article published by the Daily Signal earlier this month addressing electric vehicles, explaining ways in which EVs are not the wonders their proponents would like for us to believe.

There is a rush to impose EVs on the public. For example, some states have banned gas-powered cars altogether. “California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order banning them by 2035,” Stossel wrote. “Oregon, Massachusetts, and New York copied California. Washington state’s politicians said they’d make it happen even faster, by 2030,” just several years from now.

Stossel quotes physicist Mark Mills of the Manhattan Institute, who said, “Electric cars are amazing. But they won’t change the future in any significant way (as far as) oil use or carbon dioxide emissions.”

Stossel wrote: “Inconvenient fact 1: Selling more electric cars won’t reduce oil use very much. ‘The world has 15, 18 million electric vehicles now,’ says Mills. ‘If we [somehow] get to 500 million, that would reduce world oil consumption by about 10%. That’s not nothing, but it doesn’t end the use of oil.’

“Inconvenient fact 2: Although driving an electric car puts little additional carbon into the air, producing the electricity to charge its battery adds plenty. Most of America’s electricity is produced by burning natural gas and coal. Just 12% comes from wind or solar power.” “You have to mine, somewhere on Earth, 500,000 pounds of minerals and rock to make one battery,” Mills said.

“If you’re worried about carbon dioxide,” says Mills, “the electric vehicle has emitted 10 to 20 tons of carbon dioxide (from the mining, manufacturing, and shipping) before it even gets to your driveway.”

“Volkswagen published an honest study [in which they] point out that the first 60,000 miles or so you’re driving an electric vehicle, that electric vehicle will have emitted more carbon dioxide than if you just drove a conventional vehicle,” Mills added. You would have to drive an electric car “100,000 miles” to reduce emissions by just “20 or 30%, which is not nothing, but it’s not zero.”

Stossel then adds: “If you live in New Zealand, where there’s lots of hydro and geothermal power, electric cars pollute less. But in America, your ‘zero-emission vehicle’ adds lots of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere.”

There is also the possibility of batteries catching fire. Breitbart reported that “In July, a battery fire caused an electric bus to burst into flames in Hamden, Connecticut. Luckily, no one died in the inferno, although two transit workers and two firefighters were hospitalized as a result of the blaze, and a federal investigation was triggered.”

EVs will work pretty well close to home. They can be recharged overnight in your garage. But when you take a 200 mile or longer trip, finding a convenient charging station when you need one, and charging your EV may take a few hours. This depends upon the vehicle’s battery, the charging rate of the charger, and perhaps how long you must wait in line to access a charger.

“The average price for a brand new EV is about $55,000,” according to the National Motorists Association. “That’s considerably higher than the average four-door sedan, which runs about $35,000, according to Kelly Blue Book. Tax credits and gas savings can save you money, however, it’s going to take a few years to make up a potential $20,000 difference.”

“Totaling all factors [purchase price, maintenance and fuel costs] total costs over the average use of the vehicles are $71,770 for EV’s and $58,664 for gasoline powered cars.”

And then there’s the cost of replacing the battery, which lasts from 8 to 15 years. Consumer Affairs “reached out to five mechanics and technicians from different parts of the U.S. to see how much an EV battery replacement costs for different vehicles, and the average results ranged from $4,489 all the way to a staggering $17,658.”

So, the picture of electric vehicles to help save our environment from CO2 is a fuzzy one. And when costs and other factors are figured in, an EV is not yet a viable choice for millions of vehicle owners, especially those living in California, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington.

As technology evolves, how we produce electricity, the capacity of our electric grid, and the prices involved will improve. But that is years in the future. We have to stop pushing new ideas so hard, and wait until they are ready for large scale use.

Are gas prices too high for you? Just get an electric vehicle!

June 14, 2022

As the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas crosses the $5.00 mark, drivers across the country are finding it more and more difficult to keep gas in their cars. Those with diesel vehicles are in even worse shape.

In somewhat of a “let them eat cake” moment, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said recently that people struggling with rising gas prices should just get an electric car. 

Forget buying gas, the price of which has more than doubled in the past year or so. You can just stick your nose in the air as you drive by the gas stations in your new EV.

However, as with every idea, there is a reality that accompanies it, and reality is most often more difficult. 

For example, Kelley Blue Book tells us the average price of an EV was $56,437 in November 2021, and the average price jumped 6.2 percent from the same month a year earlier. The average price of a new compact car, however, was $25,240, less than half the price of an EV.

For an inside look at actually owning and traveling in an EV, we have stories from two people, Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Wolfe, who described a trip from New Orleans to Chicago, and Emily Dreibelbis, a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, who took a road trip from Princeton, New Jersey, to Arlington, Virginia and back.

Wolfe said at the beginning that she “thought it would be fun,” and plotted “a meticulous route” using an app that showed public chargers along the 2,000-mile round-trip route she selected.

Most of the chargers on her route, it turned out, were only Level 2. Those take eight hours for a full charge. Fast chargers give an 80 percent charge in about a half-hour, she noted. “Longer than stopping for gas — but good for a bite or bathroom break,” she reported.

 “Over four days, we spent $175 on charging. We estimated the equivalent cost for gas in a Kia Forte would have been $275, based on the AAA average national gas price for May 19. That $100 savings cost us many hours in waiting time,” she wrote.

She also noted that the Kia EV6 she drove had lower range than advertised, that the charging stations had slower speeds than advertised, that many charging stations had problematic cords, and that lots of the country had almost no fast-charging stations at all.

For the entire trip, Wolfe wrote, she spent 16 hours sleeping during the trip and 18 hours waiting to charge the vehicle, spread over 14 charges.

Dreibelbis, an avowed EV supporter, made a trip from Princeton, New Jersey, to Arlington, Virginia, and back. Traveling in her parents’ 2019 Chevrolet Volt, she experienced problems along the way, too.

During her 200-mile adventure, she experienced broken and slow vehicle charging stations, and also found not nearly enough of them. In Maryland, she found three chargers that didn’t work, and one that had an out-of-order sign on it that did work.

Of those that worked, the Level 3 “fast” charger takes about an hour for a charge that gives only 100 miles of range. Other chargers were slower. A Level 1 charger for home use can take up to 10 hours, and a Level 2 charger, like many found in public parking lots, may take up to four hours.

Dreibelbis Googled locations in Arlington and found one site was not accessible, as it was in a private complex, and the next one cost an $11 entry fee just to get to it. She wrote, “Frustrated, I surrendered the money. They only had Level Two chargers, so it took two and a half hours of reading a book in the cold until the car had enough power.”

In the manic drive to do away with fossil fuels, by 2030 the U.S. hopes for 50 percent of new cars sales to be EVs. Last year, EVs were only 4.5 percent of new car sales. 

To meet this goal, things will have to improve quickly. Charging times are long, and charging stations are far too few to service the number of EVs that is desired. Traveling long distances will take hours longer, given the charging times, and the potential waiting in line behind one, two or perhaps three  vehicles to get to the charger. And the price of EVs is often double that of conventionally fueled vehicles.

And then there is the reality of where the electricity comes from to recharge EVs: Much of it comes from fossil fuels: coal and natural gas. So, while driving an EV produces less pollution, generating the electricity to charge them will be producing lots more of it. And the more EVs there are, the more pollution will be required to keep them charged.

Further, the critical elements for EV batteries are being purchased largely from China.

When the time is right for EVs, we will transition naturally to them. That time is not yet, nor anytime soon. The biggest problem with the goals of the left is that they never want to wait until the time is right, but instead cause problems by rushing the issue.

Many people see electric vehicles as our environmental salvation

“Specifically, the President will sign an Executive Order that sets an ambitious new target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles,” the Whitehouse Fact Sheet tells us.

“The Executive Order also kicks off development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis,” the Fact Sheet continues.

The EO outlines President Joe Biden’s plan “for the U.S. to lead in electric vehicle manufacturing, infrastructure, and innovation,” by investing in:

* A national network of electric vehicle charging stations.

* Point-of-sale consumer incentives to spur U.S. manufacturing and union jobs.

* The retooling and expansion of the full domestic manufacturing supply chain.

* The next generation of clean technologies to maintain our competitive edge.

The Fact Sheet says that “Over the last decade, we have seen a transformation in the technology costs, performance, and availability of electric vehicles. Since 2010:

* “Battery pack costs dropped by 85 percent, paving the way to sticker price parity with gasoline-powered vehicles.

* “Average vehicle range increased dramatically as charging times shortened.

* “Electric models available to U.S. consumers expanded to over 40 last year – and growing.”

How much will all of this cost, and where will the money come from? The recently passed infrastructure bill earmarks $7.5 billion for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

And, as CBS News reported: “A credit of up to $7,500 for an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. ... An additional $500 credit for a car with a battery pack made in the U.S. An additional $4,500 credit for cars assembled at a unionized U.S. plant. (Currently, only plants owned by GM, Ford, and Stellantis qualify [formerly, Fiat-Chrysler].)”

The provision is a tax credit — up to federal income tax owed — not a refund. And, CBS also noted that there is an income limit to the credit: You cannot make more than $500,000 for married couples and $250,000 for single buyers.

“This credit is at the point of purchase — it’s not a credit that you apply for,” Kristin Dziczek, senior vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research, said. “It’s going to come straight off a loan or the price of the vehicle.”

So, the federal government will pay people to buy certain types of cars from certain manufacturers, and pay them more if they buy a union-made car. Why did that factor come into play? Was it because the unions opened their wallets?

And with these tax deduction incentives, won’t that cause an even larger deficit in the false concept that “it’s paid for?”

Even the best ideas have downsides. Here are some problems with electric vehicles.

Lithium is a part — the expensive part — of EV batteries, and it is getting more expensive these days. Where do we get lithium? Not here at home. Australia is the world’s biggest supplier, followed by Chile, Argentina, China, and Zimbabwe in the top five.

Lithium is finite, and it is becoming more expensive because of the demands made by automakers. 

Coal-fired power plants are the single-largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the U.S., yet that is what supplies electricity to charge electric cars. As EV use increases, so then will the demand for more electricity to charge them. One of the main reasons EVs are preferred over gas-burning vehicles is to reduce pollution. 

After the two different kinds of batteries now used in EVs are no longer useful — after about 20 years — there is not yet a market for the used batteries to recycle them and their parts. 

If you run out of juice on the road, you cannot get a jump start to get back on the road. If a problem with your electric motor develops, you cannot just take it down the street to the shop and find someone who can fix it. Dealers will be the only source of repair.

Speaking of “re-fueling” an EV, how long does that take? According to avtowow.com, “Charging most EVs using 220 volts will give you a full charge in as little as 3-4 hours to anywhere between 10-12 hours (depending on the battery size).”

And what about road-trips? “Charging electric vehicles using 440-volt systems during road trips adds a considerable amount of time to the trip. For example, a trip from Washington, DC to Little Rock, Arkansas could take 17 hours in a regular car,” avtowow.com says. Charging stops will add hours to the trip. And charging on a regular home’s 110-volt power supply could take up to 45 hours.

EVs may well be a sensible option for future transportation. But the industry is not yet up to speed, and won’t be for years. Trying to rush this “solution” into reality is foolish, and will likely make things worse, at least for a while. Which, of course, is usually not a consideration when liberals think they have a problem solved.

Better to let things develop at their own pace. The industry is working toward that end. It will take longer, but the result will be better. And, that will cost taxpayers less money.