Rep. Callahan Op-Ed: EV Mandate would be a disaster for CT

In early January, Democrat leaders were summoned to DC where they were lectured on pushing the (unpopular) Biden agenda in their states.  Connecticut leaders were there listening.  Hence we have another push in our state to make Electric Vehicles, cars, and trucks, mandatory by 2035.

Recently, the Governor backed off the plan as it was clear he didn’t have the votes in the Legislature’s Regulation Review Committee.  Now the Governor and the Democrat majority are talking about an end-of-January Special Session to vote on EV mandates for cars and trucks in Connecticut.  This would mean a simple up or down vote.  With an overwhelming Democrat majority (98-53) in the Connecticut General Assembly, that would mean a sure thing to jam this bitter pill down the throats of the people of this state.  All other proposed bills would have to go through the committee process, which would require public hearings to allow all residents an opportunity to comment on the proposals.  The majority party knows that an EV mandate is wildly unpopular, and they do not want to hear from you. A special session only a week before we convene the regular session means this one proposal would skip the usual process.

What will this mean to you:

One guarantee will be much higher energy costs.  Since energy drives the cost of everything in our economy, all costs will drastically increase including all goods and services.

The environment is important to protect, and this initiative does little to nothing to do so.  Connecticut’s electric supply and delivery system cannot support this transition so soon.   Going all electric now is putting the cart decades before the horse and the people of Connecticut will pay the price.

Power is generated in Connecticut by mostly natural gas (50%) and nuclear (38%).  Renewables are, and will remain, a tiny percentage of the power generation.  With a forced EV transition, that will mean a huge increase in power demand that Connecticut cannot supply since we have a limited access to natural gas pipeline supply. There is a huge abundance of clean burning natural gas, but we can’t get it without liquifying it and trucking or shipping it in at a much higher cost with diesel machines.

In addition, most EV battery mining and processing takes place in China.  Many EVs are also built in China where they are building coal plants every week to supply their power.   The fact is, for every 1000-pound car battery made, 500,000-pounds of earth is excavated by huge diesel machines.  EV’s require far more in materials to manufacture than gas powered cars and must be driven roughly 60,000 miles before they become “carbon neutral”.  At that point the car’s batteries are already degrading, and the resale value is gone.

Have your voice heard. Let the Governor and the Democrats in the House and Senate know how you feel about them making Connecticut even more unaffordable.