President Ronald Reagan once famously said:
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
What President Reagan didn't take into account were things that have had to be subsidized from the very beginning, because they never moved under their own steam in the first place. Things like electric vehicles.
In California, though, they have apparently never heard President Reagan's caution. In the fuzzily-defined name of "climate change," the state of California is proposing to drop a $135 million subsidy - yes, another one - on electric vehicles, in what can only be seen as a subsidy to allow wealthy Californians to more easily virtue signal their climate awareness.
A report from the Pacific Research Institute (PRC) has the details.
The rebates from the MyFirstEV program, which has no income cap (meaning it’s a subsidy for the wealthy), will be paid by taxpayers and participating automakers who will match the state’s contributions dollar-for-dollar.
The timing is revealing. The rebate arrives just as the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that two-thirds of Californians now oppose Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2035 ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles. This is a 17-point increase in opposition since 2021. Only one-third say they have seriously considered buying an electric vehicle the next time they purchase a car.
No income cap. So, any Silicon Valley billionaire can take this subsidy for a new electric vehicle that a grocery store checkout clerk in San Bernardino can't afford.
Does that seem fair to you?
A quirk of the law gives carmakers that have California headquarters, such as Rivian and Lucid, an advantage. While the $3,500 can be applied only to new cars that have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of up to $50,000, there is no dollar limit on vehicles made by “California-headquartered zero-emission vehicle companies.” Tesla, no longer a California company, having moved its base to Austin, Texas, has only two models out of five that will qualify, the Model 3 and Model Y.
The program replaces the $7,500 federal tax credits for new EVs that expired last fall. The aim is to make “it easier for families to drive clean, breathe clean, and keep more money in their pockets,” says Gov. Gavin Newsom. It’s also a clear “message,” he added, that California is leading “the world toward a clean future.”
Yeah, we're already in a clean future, Governor Newsom. The United States has cleaner air, cleaner water, cleaner everything than at any time since the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. And these electric vehicles are still subject to the laws of physics: It still takes the same amount of energy to move an electric car - let's call it Mass A - a certain distance - let's call it Distance B - at a certain speed - let's call that Velocity C. S, Mass A, moving Distance B at Velocity C requires an Energy D, no matter how you measure it or what that energy's origin is. Electricity has to be generated, and for the overwhelming majority of applications, that means a coal, gas, or nuclear power plant.
Electric cars are not "emissions-free," no matter how often Governor Newsom piously proclaims it. They just move the emissions to another site, out of sight, out of mind. None of this makes any sense: Not from the emissions standpoint, not from the roundly debunked anthropogenic climate change standpoint, not from any standpoint.
Read More: Affordability: Now Another Nail in the Coffin of 'Green Energy'
Electric Vehicles: $140 Billion Auto Wipeout, Devastating Taxpayer Waste
Here's the thing: If any product or service is economically feasible, it doesn't require any government subsidy. Ever. And, as PRC notes, California is already doing everything it can to drive the productive out of the state, and making sure that middle-class and working-class Californians can't afford to buy or drive a car, any car, isn't helping.
For many households, buying an EV isn’t a matter of comparing gasoline to electricity. Consumers thinking of buying EVs have to weigh their higher sticker prices, steeper insurance rates, repair expenses that can reach half the car’s value, and California’s punitively high electricity prices, which rival the state’s most-painful-in-the-nation gasoline prices for how much of a family’s income they consume.
California also can't afford this. The once-Golden State is facing serious budget shortfalls. They are papering this problem over with things like reserve withdrawals, delayed payments, suspended deposits, and debt. That's not sustainable. That's not a responsible way to govern. Now, Governor Newsom proposes to dump $135 million to subsidize wealthy San Francisco progressives' new EV purchases?
And this guy wants to run for president?
PRC concludes:
California families already pay some of the nation’s highest energy costs and taxes. Asking taxpayers to subsidize another round of vehicle rebates–even for wealthy households that could already afford an EV—only reinforces the perception that Sacramento’s climate agenda matters more than Californians’ cost-of-living concerns.
That's Gavin Newsom and all of the progressive left for you. They are spending California into penury, one stupid idea at a time, and they would love nothing more than to take it national.
