California Rules America

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California has just decided that nothing other than electric cars will be sold in America by 2035 – which is actually much closer to now than 13 years from now, because the car companies have to make plans for the coming model years many years before the calendar year gets here.

The 2023 models are already arriving at showrooms and the ’24s are in the “pre-production” stage, which means they’ve already been designed and the first of them are being built and tested right now, in preparation for less than a year from now. The 2028 modes are the ones being designed right now – and that brings us within spitting distance of 2035 – which as you can now see really isn’t that far from now, in terms of what is called product planning.

What do you suppose the car companies are planning to invest their resources – their money – in given that they know whatever they design that isn’t a “zero emissions” (ha!) electric car will be illegal to sell only a few years after it has been designed, at tremendous cost? Would you build something you knew ahead of time would be effectively worthless not long after you built it?

So there you go.

Actually, there goes the country – via California, which has acquired the de facto say over what the rest of the country is allowed to buy, via the regulations it imposes. Here’s how it works:

California is the largest market for cars in the country. California has a regulatory agency styled the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that issues regulations regarding what the car makers are allowed to sell in California (among other things). The car companies – not wanting to be kicked out of the California market – submit to whatever California says they must do (and not do). Since it would be costly to build cars for the California market – and different cars for the rest of the market – the car companies end up building cars that cater to the California market and nothing else.

Viz, here.

In the past, they did try building what were styled “California cars” – which usually meant cars that were gimped in some manner to make them acceptable to the California regulatory apparat. Some will recall abominations such as the early ’80s “California” Corvette (and Camaro Z28) that were equipped not with the 350 V8 (5.7 liters, in Old Speak) that came standard everywhere else but the smaller/weaker 305 (5.0) liter V8 that was not even offered anywhere else.

It is why – to go back another year – Pontiac (RIP) wasn’t able to sell Trans-Ams equipped with the 400 V8 and the four speed manual transmission in California, either. But everywhere else, the 400/manual combo was still available that year.

But as the regulatory regime became more oppressive – and as other states “adopted” the “California standard,” it made less and less sense – in the short-term sense – for the car companies to build “California” cars and then cars for the rest of the country.

One size soon fit all.

Now, we arrive at the crescendo of this ugly opera. California says only “zero emissions” electric cars after 2034 – which is the last year before the year when only EeeeeVeees will be legal to sell. Which, keep in mind, is much closer to tomorrow than it sounds. Which means that the decision makers at every car company are already diverting money away from the development of cars equipped with engines,  that aren’t electric. This will achieve precisely what the people behind the regulatory apparat want. That being the end of other-than-electric cars – and a lot sooner from now than you probably realize.

You may have begun to notice the winnowing availability of engines that aren’t almost nonexistent in current cars – such as the motorcycle-sized engine (1.5 liters) that is the only engine you can get in the 2023 Chevy Malibu. It is not an aberration.

It is a trend.

Another trend is the percolating up of the news that banks are (per ESG) cutting off loans to people trying to buy new cars that aren’t electric cars, in order to “increase the uptake” of electric cars. Since about 85 percent of new car purchases are financed, you can probably see what that will mean when it is no longer possible to get a loan on a new car that is not an electric car.

It all begs a number of questions, including – who are these people? And how is it that the people of California have the power to dictate to all of the people of this country the kinds of cars they’ll be allowed to buy – and the cars they’ll not be allowed to buy?

Keep in mind, also, that this amount to another mass transfer of wealth as all of the cars that aren’t electric cars will be worthless once people aren’t allowed to sell them. Or use them – which is almost certainly next.

Understand that. The object isn’t so much to get us into electric cars. It is to get us out of cars, electric cars being the vehicle to achieve that end.

Courtesy of California.

. . .

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59 COMMENTS

  1. I have family in California, but I still kinda hope it would just go ahead and fall into the ocean already. Where is Lex Luthor when you need him?

    If I were a car company, I would just stop making California cars. Let the other goofs serve that “market”.

  2. As the saying goes, “The South will Rise again”.

    I’m certain at some point, there’ll be a secession, plan on selling everything and moving there, and hopefully they’ll go back to what America used to be before the Commies took over.

    Enough of this centralized insanity, I didn’t get this far in life for some dipshits in The Capital Wasteland and Calimexistan to determine I can’t have V8’s and manuals, I’m not gonna let them dictate my future.

    Unlike last time though, the new south won’t lose, they’re not a bunch of commies confused about which bathroom to use

    • “Enough of this centralized insanity, I didn’t get this far in life for some dipshits in The Capital Wasteland and Calimexistan to determine I can’t have V8’s and manuals…”

      Exactamente, Zane!

  3. Headed for another 2008 crash?

    There are so many reasons why the economy could have a meltdown.

    1. The FED changing the definition of a recession.

    The US GDP came in at -0.9% for Q2, which is the second consecutive quarter in a row that the FED published negative GDP growth. Here is how we actually define a recession, like we have always done: “Experts declare a recession when a nation’s economy experiences negative gross domestic product (GDP), rising levels of unemployment, falling retail sales, and contracting measures of income and manufacturing for an extended period of time.

    Recessions are considered an unavoidable part of the business cycle—or the regular cadence of expansion and contraction that occurs in a nation’s economy”. I mean come on guys, these terms/indicators exists so that governments and central banks can change their policy’s on time.

    But instead of actually changing their policy to a recession policy, the leftist idiots simply deny the recession and even try to change the definition of it.

    We have heard the “this time is different” enough times and it has so far always lead to real problems.

    This has to do with the fact that there are going to be new elections soon, so denying the recession is a convenient thing for them to do.

    https://www.tradingview.com/chart/SPX/UvwOah8P-2008-vs-2022/

  4. DIY electric car runs 200 miles on old lead-acid batteries, which are 100% green…..

    People should boycott all big manufacturers receiving ESG cash to push EV’s, don’t give them one cent.

    Buy an older analog car without all the computers, don’t buy any new ice or EV vehicles.

    If you want an EV buy one of these only, or build your own….

    bribed with ESG money, automakers are building, pushing electric vehicles,

    several individuals are using their skills to create low-cost electric rides.

    David Cloud is one such individual who has spent $3000 in converting a 1997 Geo Metro to run on an electric engine fueled by old lead acid batteries.

    The vehicle is powered by 8” ADC motors that are included on each rear wheel and are powered by old 12V lead-acid batteries. The vehicle has a top speed of 72mph and can hit 60mph in 18 seconds, with a range of about 200 miles.

    Someone should build these and sell them, there is a market for them, the new EV’s are $50,000 +

    Lead acid batteries are 100% recycled so are green.

    Only 5% of lithium fire bomb batteries are recycled, plus there is a rumored $4500 recycling fee, so lots will get thrown into the woods…..

    https://ecofriend.com/diy-electric-car-runs-200-miles-on-old-lead-acid-batteries.html

    • Excellent, Anon!

      Yes, see, this is what is possible. Makes you wonder why in the hell cars such as this aren’t manufactured, though that comes with thinking with a rational mind about solving problems. As Eric and others correctly point out: “The object isn’t so much to get us into electric cars. It is to get us out of cars.”

  5. Your government is pushing EV’s? Why?

    Re: EV’s and grid upgrade equipment……

    China has infiltrated all levels of governments, taken control, (check out the leftist/communist takeover), your politicians bought off, paid to push the EV agenda.

    Anybody pushing EV’s is a paid ccp shill.

    Who benefits the most from the EV vehicle conversion? china does.

    All the most important components in the new EV’s are all made in china. Then you are dependent on china for replacement parts, etc., in effect they take over the whole vehicle supply chain. Vehicle production then centralized in China.

    the chinese are taking over the electric car market, they are starting to export their EV’s worldwide, their EV’s are supposed to be advanced and cheap, they will kill off the other manufacturers……

    the chinese make most of the chips, maybe the shortage was to help their EV launch….lots of their cars coming here soon

    at this rate everyone will be driving a chinese car soon, a lot of electronics in your car are made there already…….

    no wonder tesla moved a lot of production to china…

    china…..it is where most rare earths are processed; and most of the mineral supply-chains for electric vehicles lead there, with existing supply sewn up.

    With more EV’s the grid has to be upgraded, most of the equipment for expanding the grid is made in china.
    The largest beneficiaries are the Chinese manufacturers of electric transformers, cables, generators, etc. since almost none of that stuff is made anywhere else anymore.

    If there is a war and chine detonates a neutron bomb that takes out the grid, they get to supply all the replacement equipment, another win for them.

    What about all the vaccines and drugs the government has been pushing, all the ingredients come from china.

    china was chosen to lead the wef great reset, they probably cooperate to help their own agenda

    https://carnewschina.com/2022/04/18/chinese-electric-vehicles-are-on-fire/?fbclid=IwAR0qjRYwe7u0vfefTsZ9MOEDRE3imKU9cXN2qbZwQr-XdU3D04FgvorMWIM

  6. What I don’t understand is why, when CA started this BS, the car companies didn’t tell CA to f*ck off? They could’ve easily told them that they couldn’t build CA cars and 49 state cars too, and simply told CA that they wouldn’t sell cars there. That would’ve angered the people, since CA was very car centric; they, in turn, would’ve directed anger at their public officials; and this BS could’ve been rescinded! Again, why didn’t the car companies just tell CA to f*ck off?

  7. Tesla is our enemy:

    ‘Tesla said in a July 26 filing to CARB that the board should require 100% zero emission vehicles by 2030 and increase the stringency of the standard by “reducing the use of polluting PHEVs.”

    ‘CARB’s proposal sets new tough requirements for plug-in hybrids, which currently must have at least 10 miles of all-electric range and will eventually need a minimum 50-mile all-electric range to qualify.

    ‘Tesla also questioned CARB’s battery durability requirements, saying they “will cause greater tailpipe emissions by harming the rate of electric vehicle uptake through imposition of substantial new costs and designs with reserved battery capacity.”

    ‘The Alliance of Automotive Innovation, a trade association representing General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota and other automakers, said the new CARB rule “requires tripling EV sales in just three model years.”‘

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-says-california-toughen-ev-160228178.html

    Tesla of course is just talking its own book, as all corporations do.

    But using Big Gov to shove EVs down our throat shows that lining his own pockets trumps any proto-libertarian leanings for the world’s richest lifeform.

    Musk claims to favor freer speech on Twitter. But when it comes to personal transport, he’s just fine with the hobnailed jackboot of Big Gov stomping down hard on our peasant necks.

    Tesla will be difficult to kill — much more so than brain-dead GM — due to the tidal wave of government regulation underpinning its EVs. But conceivably a sufficiently dire recession could take Tesla down.

    Bring it, Lord, bring it.

  8. Part of agenda 2030 is eliminating small businesses, all the ESG money goes to the big corporations owned by the billionaires in bed with the globalist/communist great reset gang.

    Small businesses that make small, light, analog, ice, kit cars, that were simple, inexpensive and a lot of fun, are being forced out of business with government regulations,

    (for example: Westfield just went bankrupt) only the big corporations making huge, over weight, very expensive, unsafe, defective, lithium fire bomb EV’s survive and you are forced to buy them….lol.

    It is working……..
    Rent Problems Escalate For Small Business Owners – 40% Can’t Pay

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-08-24/rent-problems-escalate-small-business-owners-40-cant-pay

  9. Yes to what you said EM. How are the manufacturers who have jumped on the EV-only bandwagon going make money after the ICEs are banned (there is only so much $$ the gov can give them to just exist)? What percent of the population who wants an ICE vehicle will actually buy an EV instead; like 2%?

    As I’ve said before, if EVs are so great, why is it necessary to ban the EV’s competitors, and why do they need these huge subsidies?

  10. Today, year-ahead German power prices soared 13% to a mind-numbing 725 euros per megawatt-hour, according to ZH.

    Since the euro is 1:1 with the USD, one need only divide by 1,000 to convert this wholesale price to 72.5 cents per kWh — about three to five times the prevailing US retail price.

    Where is the merit now to owning an EV in Germany? It’s gone with the wind.

    And if it can happen in a few months there, you’d better believe it can happen just as quickly here.

    Cucked Germany is the test case to see how hard one can poke (mostly) white people with a sharp stick, before they lose it and start burning cities just to watch the pretty flames lick.

  11. Eric, you’re right that Commifornia does tend to pull the US in a certain direction. But in a way I’m slightly hopeful that it wont happen anymore, especially given the magnitude of what they’re proposing is this stupid and not workable. There has to be a point that people just give up and let them go their own way, and continue buying proper cars. And ideally there should be someone around to make those cars. I mean given the issues a place like Texas has had with its power grid recently, and given they have their own oil – do you think they will all stop driving ICE cars ? If they cant make them, do you think they cant be smuggled over from Mexico ? Maybe I’m being simplistic but I do find it hard for one state to pull the rest of the union into something so stupid.

    • Relocate to Venezuela with an ice car, 10 cents per gallon gas, no restrictions of any kind, those kind of countries look free and open now compared to the G7 globalist/leftist/communist nightmare countries.

    • ‘given the issues a place like Texas has had with its power grid recently, and given they have their own oil – do you think they will all stop driving ICE cars ?’ — Nasir

      Texas is a large net exporter of petroleum products.

      If Texas were to become an independent nation again — as it was during 1836-1845, before foolishly, fatally ceding its precious sovereignty to the fickle US fedgov — it could enjoy happy motoring for centuries to come.

      Texans love their pickups — it’s the No. 1 pickup market in the US. In Houston during the First Oil Shock (1973-74), pickups sported bumper stickers reading, “DRIVE 90 — FREEZE A YANKEE.”

      To stoke the fires of secession, the new version could be, “DRIVE 90 — IMMOBILIZE A CALIFORNICATOR.”

      • Jim – I agree. Will they just give up? Also given the fact that these pickups from what I understand are largely made just across the border in Mexico, do you think they can impose these rules on Texas? And ofcourse then the rest of the so called “flyover country”

  12. I’ll repeat from the V8 article:

    “Got ya beat Commifornia! Up here in the Soviet of Washington we’re leading the pack with new cars electric only 2030 !! Bill signed by fearless leader Jaydolf Dimslee in March.

    https://electrek.co/2022/03/25/washington-passes-bill-targeting-all-electric-car-sales-by-2030-for-real-this-time/

    I’ll hold up a finger too, but it won’t be the same one as the lemmings in that picture.”

    More incentive for eastern WA to join eastern Oregon in the move to split and join Idaho. If we split along the Pacific Crest my county in central WA is included.

    Also the governor and another genius, our senator Patty “the moron” Murray are working on removing the Snake River dams here in WA, everything revolves around save the salmon here. Murray is the prime example for repeal of the 17th amendment.

    Snake River dams provide clean electricity plus a vital lock system for barging wheat from far eastern WA out to terminals down the Columbia River.

  13. On a different yet related note – how on earth will every car being electric work when the grid can hardly power whats already on it? TO me it seems like this will all fall apart. But how is what I dont get.

    Out here in the UK they keep telling us daily that we will have power cuts and gas rationing over the winter. Good luck charging the 100 Kwh battery….

    • Nasir, leftists have no concept or concern about feasibility, all that matters is the message. They live in this deluded world where cars don’t get 100mpg because car companies and oil companies are evil and greedy, and we live in a world where electricity comes out from your wall outlet and it’s clean. Those other infrastructure concerns are uninteresting and not on-message, so who cares, right?

  14. As I’ve commented before, I had the misfortune of living in Southern CA for quite a long time. In San Diego, there are huge neighborhoods where people park their cars on the street quite a distance from where they live. Sometimes, you don’t even get to park on the same block as where you live. Some apartment structures (like the one I lived in), had a small parking lot quite distant from any charging source. Flat-out not possible to charge anything in those lots.

    Now, I know what you’re gonna say, “oh they want people out of cars and into public transportation”. I made use of that public transportation every day for years. It is already stuffed to the gills. The San Diego trolley and often times the Metrolink were like a traveling zoo cage. I would come home and tell my girlfriend that its was “another super-orangautan day”, which 15 years ago was steadily becoming the norm.

    Many times, the bus, to get to the trolley (to get to the Metrolink) was so full it wouldn’t stop where I was waiting with a crowd of people. Sometimes they would double up the busses and two of ’em wouldn’t stop!

    There is no way this works. And by “works” I mean that the same level of employment and business throughput is maintained in areas like that. NFW

  15. “Since it would be costly to build cars for the California market – and different cars for the rest of the market – the car companies end up building cars that cater to the California market and nothing else.”

    See! Without corporate complicity this couldn’t all be possible. Also, I don’t even believe that any of these government regulatory agencies just think up shit on their own and surprise the manufacturers. This is all in concert. This is no surprise to any corporation.

    We also know that the underlying (actual) “laws” that make this all possible are not written by the people that put them on the floor, vote on them and sign them. They are handed 1000 pages of whatever from their supporting lobbyists that want something in return for their campaign contributions and other “support” (e.g., banning unfriendly speech on their platforms, etc).

    While, sure, the lunatics in government take the ball and run, they’re too busy re-running for the next election to rub two of their few brain cells together to come up with anything like this.

    Corporations very well *could* do other things, they just don’t want to. They want to help the lunatics in government because it is a very lucrative business to do so. Why isn’t the “free market” creating exclusively non-California car companies? There’s plenty of business outside of California.

    • EM,
      Indeed, the firearms industry has no problem making standard firearms, and “California compliant firearms” at the same time, and charging more for the “California compliant”. The solution is simple. Charge a LOT more for California compliance than for the rest. California car sales are going in the tank anyway, why not take the biggest bite you can before the market dies? Apparently, car makers are oblivious to the fact at least half of them are going to be extinct by 2035, or soon thereafter.

    • I agree EM, the car companies should tell California to get stuffed and let everyone walk who can’t afford to buy an EV appliance. There’s a good chance I won’t be around by 2035 but would love to see if the average Californian will finally say “Enough!” and head to Sacramento with pitchforks and torches.

  16. I’m sure that the California officials have carefully taken into account the impact of EV’s on the electrical grid in CA. /SARC

    Where it could get interesting is the peak demand with fast chargers, because a lot of them will be needed even with many people charging at low levels overnight or at work.

    Let’s say a typical “Quick Mart” has 16 gas pumps. Each gas pump now has a fractional HP pump, maybe a load of 500 Watts per pump. So maybe 8 kW total peak demand.

    Replace those (or add) today’s “fast” chargers, say 16 of those at a nominal 250 kW (that may be on the low end, Tesla’s may be 350 kW).

    16 x 250 = 4,000 kW or 4 MW of connected load. So suddenly every suburban or rural Quick Mart has an electric load (design peak demand) equal to a paper mill, auto assembly plant, or a medium size college campus.

    And if I’m doing my math correctly, a 250 kW charger (with 15% loss) adds a net of about 3.5 kWh per minute to the EV battery, so it will be adding about 12-14 miles range per minute of actual charge time.

    Compare that to my sedan, where I can add over 300 miles of range in about two minutes of actual full time, or 150 miles per minute.

    Either electric or gas cars will have similar time requirements to pull in, park, initiate the process with a payment method, etc. So the actual “fill time” is what is important.

    And further, most EV proponents assume the in the future, new batteries and chargers will be developed that will make EV charging “as convenient” as filling the tank of an IC engine vehicle.

    If that ever becomes reality then the impact on the grid will be monumental – based on simple calculations, the supercharger load will be about 4 megawatts per charger – that is for ONE charger supplying ONE car.

    • Steve,
      They have no intention of improving the grid. The intent is to get you walking, biking, or on the bus, if and when the bus ever shows up. Few can afford an EV, and even fewer that can marginally afford one are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to own one. If they have two or more brain cells that get along. Which would most often accompany one who could marginally afford one.

  17. With the exception of the Escalade (probably the only model that actually sells well), sounds like Cadillac will only offer electric cars in the 2026 model year. That is only FOUR models years from now. No wonder they pushed all those dealers that don’t see a future in electric out. Sounds like the Escalade could be the last Cadillac that actually sells well and doesn’t lose GM tons of money.

    I think most car brands plan on being all electric by 2030. They seem hellbent on it, which is crazy as buyers have never bought more than 3-5% electric ever. Most of the time it’s barely 1%. Buyers have voted and they have said no. But no matter it seems.

    I think they plan on getting people to buy electric via not making any more ICE vehicles period. Kind of like when they simply stopped building and selling big cars in the 1970-80’s. At least then there were trucks to move on to.

    The question is: Will people just go along with it? Due to the high costs, I think it’s a huge gamble on the part of automakers. I think most buyers will have to sit it out simply because how do you afford it, and drive older vehicles.

    If people go along with it, what will be the reaction to how crappy they are? People will be raging when they can’t charge their cars and they are stuck places they don’t want to be.

    I think simply not buying (and not doing the rental, ride sharing crap too) is the key to stopping this insanity. Just tell them, no sale.

    Of course we will see how they try to regulate old cars at that point. Or the cost of used gas cars stays high. Or we have blackouts from the cars charging. Something will have to give. It could be very bad.

    • Hi rich,

      The decision is being made for us. With the increase in energy prices an electric car is unaffordable for many. If 20 million households are already delinquent on their utility bills how are they able to supplement additional funds for that electric plug? Auto prices have skyrocketed so much that finance companies are offering 84 month car loans. Nothing like being in debt forever!

      The average American will hold onto to their ICE vehicle, they have no choice. Could government shutdown fuel production? Sure, but they have to realize that this would only create a Mad Max scenario. Are they ready for that? The same thing will occur when electric cars overload the electrical grid and it crashes.

      Timelines are fear tactics. They are used to push a narrative. They are used to terrify and corral thinking in a certain direction. How many timelines has government instigated that have never come to fruition? Many. Think about it. How many in the Congress or current state governments will be serving or even alive by the time that this takes effect? A lot can happen in the meantime. If what AOC and Greta say is true about “climate change” we won’t even be here by 2035 so it is irrelevant. 😉

      • Morning, RG –

        Did you catch the news item that Tesla has had to turn off some its “superchargers” in Chyna . . . because of power shortages?

      • Very well said RG. Much more concisely than my individual rants. I’m just so frustrated by all this. But you do, at least implicitly, bring up a very important point.

        Along with timelines trying to steer the course (rather than a actionable plan), there’s the plain fact that government sucks at almost anything outside of violence and destruction. No, they really actually do suck at most things. I have first hand experience (current job) with just how idiotic, counter-productive, over-budget, delinquent, and just outright *stupid* the normal course of business actually is with government.

        I could give direct examples that would make most people laugh and/or cry. Laugh at “really? that stupid?!” and cry because “this is where all that money goes.” (i.e., tax dollars)

        Massive black hole of incompetence is as I often say just a “bonfire of tax dollars”. For that matter, they may as well be using literal dollars for electricity generators. Would be nearly as efficient and “sane” as their existing “well though-out and careful” plans.

        It’s going to break. Or they’re going to change their plans. Or both and it’ll just break later on.

      • Hi RG

        ‘Mad Max’ Is Coming – Bill Holter Warns Of ‘Dark Times Ahead, Even For The Prepared’

        Holter says evil is trying to take over everywhere.

        Holter contends, “The consensus is the fact that we have a 2nd Amendment and we still have guns here is the only reason they have not snapped the trap shut yet. The United States is ‘the last bastion.’ ”

        “Just look at Australia. Look at New Zealand. Look at Canada. Look at Britain. Can you have guns there? No, they have taken them away. What did they do? They forced the population into lockdown. They forced the population to get the jab. The result is you are going to see the West vastly depopulated and degraded in the next 1, 2 or 5 years. They have total control over their population. Whereas, that is not the case yet in the U.S.”

        Holter has long said when the overloaded debt system breaks, it will break “fast and ugly.”
        “Credit will dry up overnight,” and “The world runs on credit,” according to Holter.
        His math shows a dark time ahead even for the prepared.

        https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mad-max-coming-bill-holter-warns-dark-time-ahead-even-prepared

    • ‘I think simply not buying (and not doing the rental, ride sharing crap too) is the key to stopping this insanity.’ — richb

      In 2009, a harsh recession chopped annual auto sales from around 17 million during 1999-2005 to only 10 million as the recession ended.

      Plenty of evidence points to another recession either underway or coming soon. Combine a recessionary drop in demand with a drastic change in product mix from ICE to EV, and you’ve got a formula for an auto market smash that hasn’t been seen since the 1930s.

      What will Big Gov do when auto makers smack the wall? Why, bail them out again, taking a large equity stake and maybe even appointing Pete Buttitwitch and his fellow wokesters to the board of directors. From the frying pan into the fire …

      • Hi Jim,

        The crash on the US economy is imminent. The printing presses are running at full throttle. Now, with the passing of the “smaller” Build Back Broke bill that Congress approved last week and Biden’s new college handout that is predicted to cost American taxpayers around $300 billion inflation will skyrocket. The only scenario that fits is to intentionally bankrupt society. I anticipate an electricity bailout package soon, only to be followed by a few grocery stimulus checks.

        • ‘I anticipate an electricity bailout package soon.’ — Raider Girl

          Funny you mention that. It’s already happened in Europe, with natural gas at an oil-equivalent $500 a barrel. Consider the plight of heavily-indebted Greece:

          ‘While state-controlled Public Power Corporation had the lowest price of all electricity providers in August (€0.48 per kilowatt-hour) it raised its September price to €0.788 for those consuming up to 500kWh per month and €0.80 for heavier consumers.

          ‘In order to stick to its commitment for an actual charge to consumers between €0.14-0.17 per kWh the government had to adjust its subsidy level accordingly, raising it by over 72%.’

          https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1191679/the-electricity-subsidy-shock/

          With the euro at 1:1 with the USD, these euro prices are also dollar prices. Greeks are paying the same electricity tariff Americans do, but the true cost without subsidy is five times higher. When the Greek gov defaults again, hapless citizens will be obliged to pay full freight, or live by candlelight.

          Those who think this won’t happen here are sadly mistaken. Euro-peons are the lab rats. If they cower in their cages under the lash of the whip, that’s carte blanche for the US fedgov to unleash power scarcity on us, at astronomical prices.

    • Apart from existing public transportation being super-overloaded un hardly expandable and the problem of electric grids hardly able to handle the existing load during stress times, there are additional issues.

      Now the loan companies are only going to give loans for EVs they say. Or, also likely, they will charge higher interest rates on non-EVs at first. The problem being with the loan scenario that many people are already leveraged to the hilt. Their income to debt ratios and resulting credit scores are already not favorable. There is little room to put 20% or even 10% down on anything.

      People have very little savings, have maxed out credit cards, poor credit scores, are already fully loaded on expenses and (as we read in ZeroHedge yesterday) unable to keep their electricity bills current. They are challenged to put food on the table, even with complete junk food.

      So guy long on a $50K loan?! If loan companies extend loans to hardly-qualified applicants, they’re going to see major defaults just like the home loan fiasco. And then it’ll be repo galore with used EVs. Who in their right mind wants to buy a used EV for tons of money with the prospect of a huge battery replacement looming on the horizon?

      It just doesn’t add up. It doesn’t work. Absolute chaos and collapse are the most likely scenario.

    • “I think they plan on getting people to buy electric via not making any more ICE vehicles period.” People are likely to find an alternative. Just like they did during prohibition. There is little limit on how long one can maintain an ICE car, and keep it in service, except the cost of doing so. When the alternative is a VERY expensive EV, with a VERY short service life that you can’t “fix”, that cost becomes acceptable.

      • Hi John,

        I think we should all be taking cues from Cuba. Did anyone see that one coming? When individuals cannot afford new, they take better care of what they have existing. The USSA and her ICE vehicles will be no different. Auto mechanics may be a very profitable trade for one to look into.

        On a happier note, my husband has torn out the clutch of his sports car. Well, he has dragged my teenage son to the garage to help him with this endeavor. To both of his parents surprise our son loves it and has volunteered to be out there hours on end with him handing him tools, watching him rebuild the car, asking questions, etc. Last night they didn’t come in for almost seven hours except to eat dinner.

        I don’t believe it isn’t kids don’t want to know, but there are very few who are able to show them. When you push them into it, they seem to take a real interest.

    • It’s simple to me. CA and some others will increase the ‘regs’ fast to force the average joe out of their iCE. $100 registration will be $1000 the next year for the ‘polluters’. Then $2000 or more the next year, etc…
      Or they’ll do it with gas taxes, maybe both.
      And most will comply.
      As I’ve said before, the rural folks will not.

      • Hi Chris,

        Then we have anarchy, and the economy will be at a complete standstill. As much as the Progressive Left wants to believe Climate Change is the be all and end all of everything, they will be starving themselves in the process. Right now, the Left is throwing darts at the wall and hoping something sticks. I don’t think any of these climate pushers have seriously sat down and ran these numbers and possible scenarios when they shut down fossil fuels and push sustainable energy throughout the globe.

        It sounds pretty to them and their supporters, but I guarantee Farmer Bill will not be bringing his fresh produce to the city if he has to pay $1000 registration fee for owning an ICE vehicle. We see what is going on in Europe right now. They originally shutdown those nasty coal plants in Germany but have since imported all of their energy only increasing Russia’s wealth and German citizens electric bills. Italy is now considering reversing course and increasing coal production. France has hydropower (for now), but that only generates 12% of their electricity. Pretty much 100% of oil and natural gas are imported. What the EU is doing is mind numbing if not downright senseless. Maybe a Dark Winter is what the EU and the USSA needs. Several may have a new revelation before spring and realize warmth and full bodies outweigh Climate Change any day of the week.

  18. “It all begs a number of questions, including – who are these people?” EP

    I will tell you who these people are. The biggest bunch of racist, sexist, homophobic, haters the world has ever seen, thats who. Its all part and parcel of the boomer privilege they birthed and nurtured since its infancy. Blindly living by the creedo ‘do as we say, not as we do.’ they have created a fantasyland full of grown children.

    The lame stream media centered in California constantly bangs on my state, AZ. For one alleged sin after another. I wish the country would rise behind us in unison and tell California to STFU and sit down already. Every. Single. Governor, of California has been an old, fat, degenerate, or scrawny white man. One hundred and seventy years and never anything other than that. That is exhibit “A” that they hate women, minorities and gays.

    Meanwhile in my mean, racist, sexist, anti gay state of Az, in just the last fifty years, our governors have consisted of a one eyed Jack, a Mexican – Cuban named Raul Castro, three and a half women, a carpet muncher, a trust fund baby, a practitioner of polygamy, and a full on douche nozzle. So please California, clean up your own back yard fore you come complaining about anyone else’s. On second thought, just stuff a mask in that vile, yammering sewer pipe of yours.

  19. One big reason why California has such an outsized influence on the rest of the country is because it is the alpha and genesis of mass media. Wiliam Randolph Hearst started his empire in San Francisco. Hollywood thrived when it became an escape from the patent enforcers in Edison’s empire. And, being somewhat picturesque once Molholand dumped half the Colorado river into the basin, it attracted people who wanted celebrity.

    Mass media is somewhat of a strange duck. A large percentage of the population will pay attention to what you say, and to the people in front of the camera lens, that becomes a lever for influencing mass thought. Politicans, chasing the same audience as the actor and performer, will take on whatever persona will get them close to the celebrity as a lever. It soon feeds on itself, becoming “the message.”

    It wasn’t always this way, but I think after McCarthy showed the danger of introducing radical politics into mass media it inspired the left. Much of the hippie movement was manufactured and marketed to the boomers to sell change for change’s sake. Once it got rolling they started demanding whatever the celebrities told them to want. And the instututions were so flabbergasted they didn’t know what to do… and capitulated. After a time they made more money from the boomers than ever before, only because of their great mass and constant need for distraction.

    The whole state was built on a lie on top of a lie. And their biggest export is lying. Those flickering images aren’t really moving, and the tiny box doesn’t have tiny people dancing inside either.

    • It’s like “Blow” as far as them leading the way, actors and musicians (although celebrity is far more vapid now).
      They can’t even keep the damn power on when the temperature exceeds 90 and are touting their first use of Teslas (or powerwalls, I forget) to buoy the grid. What will poor Jay Leno do???

    • Indeed RK,
      Hollywood’s greatest sin is its unflinching support and promotion of the Military Industrial Complex. There are an abundance of movies I used to like that I can no longer stomach. Because I now see them for what they are.

    • BG – they won’t let you register it. Before the courts struck down the gross polluter fee abuse in CA, they were using it to prevent out of state cars coming it, or hitting them with fines to make it not cost effective. I bought a 1998 Corolla with my work signing bonus and drove it to CA. When I got here, I had to pay a gross polluter fee since the car wasn’t purchased in CA. It was 50-state emissions legal, but that didn’t matter.

      Anything which isn’t 50-state emissions legal CAN NOT be registered in California today. They’ll do the same with this electric mandate. New gasoline cars will not be possible to register.

      I live here, I vote against these people, I donate to their opponents, but it’s time to flee, once I can convince my wife that this place is insane. Meanwhile, I bought myself a nice used 520HP V8 car, because it’s my last chance to legally acquire a V8, but I will get to keep it a while.

  20. ‘How is it that the people of California have the power to dictate to all of the people of this country the kinds of cars they’ll be allowed to buy?’ — eric

    ‘In March the EPA reinstated California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to implement its own emissions standards, first granted in 2013 under Obama but revoked in 2019 under Trump.

    ‘Attorneys general in 17 Republican states filed a lawsuit against the EPA claiming that it violated a doctrine in the U.S. Constitution granting states equal sovereignty.

    ‘The lawsuit is led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who was also joined by the attorneys general for the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.’

    https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/05/13/attorneys-general-17-republican-states-sue-epa/3931652485744/

    Granting California and its coterie of fourteen “Section 177” fellow-traveler states the privilege of drafting their own emissions regulations is obviously wrong and illegal.

    But as Eric points out, time is short and damage is already being done. Even if the 17 state plaintiffs win at the DC Court of Appeals, “Biden” will appeal to SCOTUS and try to run out the clock. FJB — say it loud; say it proud.

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