Connecticut Should not Ban Gas Powered Vehicles

This is a Silly Idea

                                     

                                      September 17, 2023         

      A recent article in The Connecticut Mirror entitled Gas powered vehicles: Unsafe at any speed advocates the eventual ban of non-electric cars. Specifically, the article states:

“If Connecticut adopts these regulations, we will join Vermont, New York, Washington, Oregon, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Maryland who have adopted the ACCII (Advanced Clean Cars) rules, which gradually phase out the selling of new gas cars by 2035.”

     This is a silly idea.

     There is no evidence that forcing Connecticut residents to drive electric cars is going to have any impact on climate change – which has been happening on Earth for the past five billion years. In fact, the entire climate change movement is based on dubious science.

    The premise is that certain manmade chemicals – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and fluorinated gases – accumulate in the atmosphere and cause the “greenhouse effect” meaning that heat generated by the sun’s energy reflecting off the Earth escapes at a lower rate thus raising the Earth’s temperature and changing the climate.

     What is left unsaid is that the concentration of these greenhouse gases is so low that no scientific experiment can prove this hypothesis. For example, carbon dioxide is 80% of the greenhouse gases, yet its concentration is so low that it is measured in parts per million! The concentration of the other greenhouse gases is even less, with methane being measured in parts per billion and fluorinated gases measured in parts per trillion.

    Over the past one hundred years, the concentration of carbon dioxide has risen from 207 parts per million to 429 parts per million but there is not a scintilla of hard evidence that this is contributing to an increase in the global temperatures.

    The predictions are based on computer models. Yet, these models can’t even predict the weather accurately three days from now. How can they predict the weather in eighty years? There has never been an experiment where the concentration of greenhouse gases has been increased in a greenhouse by miniscule ratios and shown a rise in temperature. The entire premise is thermodynamic fiction.

     Furthermore, the Earth was warmer as recently as 1,500 years ago when human greenhouse gases production was nonexistent.

      For example, Greenland is covered by 83% glaciers. So why is it called Greenland? If you state “Because it was once greener!” then go to the head of the class. Earth was warmer 1500 years ago but a mini Ice Age caused by natural solar cycles and the procession of the Earth caused the Earth to cool. Greta Thunberg’s distant ancestor did not convince Eric the Red to give up his gas-guzzling SUV.

     Climate change alarmists are telling us the polar ice caps are shrinking. But they are also shrinking on Mars. Maybe the Martians aren’t buying enough Teslas.

     The irony of this legislation is that it will increase carbon emissions. The main factor in the size of one’s carbon footprint is one’s home, not one’s car. As David Owen (a strong climate change believer) pointed out in his book, The Conundrum, electric cars allow drivers to travel larger distances cheaply. This enables them to be able to afford longer commutes from areas with larger houses, thus increasing their carbon footprint.

     But Climate Change is an existential threat, not because it exists, but because the movement has become so politically powerful resulting in catastrophic policy changes. Consider the following recent developments:

     Money diverted by the climate change agenda resulted in California and Canada abandoning prudent forestry of removing flammable undergrowth. The result, rampant forest fires destroyed homes and caused clouds of smoke that spread over the continental United States exacerbating asthma attacks and leading to multiple hospitalizations.

    Banks were forced to stop financing oil exploration resulting in increased energy costs that disproportionately affected the poor and minorities.

    The Auto Workers strike is the result of job losses and decreased profitability of the car companies because of government-mandated forced conversion to Electric Vehicle production.

     The ban of fluorinated gases in asthma inhalers caused their price to double. Anecdotal evidence suggests multiple hospitalizations, especially in younger minorities, resulted because of this insanity.

    This policy change is not fiat accompli.  A Legislative Regulation Review Committee divided equally into Republicans and Democrats has the final say. Hopefully a combination of courageous Republicans and urban Democrats will realize that this policy - promoted by upper middle class white liberals who can easily afford electric cars and gas-guzzling generators for their houses in case of blackouts - is not in the best interests of majority of Connecticut residents, especially the poor.