A new, SEMA-sponsored bill introduced to the House aims to prevent internal combustion vehicle bans like the ones already in a dozen states.
Officially dubbed “House Resolution 1435,” HR1435 is being branded as the “Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act,” and promoted within SEMA as “a bill designed to protect Americans’’’ right to choose the technology that powers their motor vehicles.”
It’s a curious response to the ZEV mandates passed first in California and then a dozen other states, with more to come, which would ban the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles to private citizens after 2035 (municipal, commercial, and military fleets would not, as yet, face the same ban in many cases). Curious, first, because it was put forward by Pennsylvania Republican John Joyce, who has painted himself as a staunch advocate of state’s rights when it’s been politically convenient for him — and curious, second, because it’s a battle that’s already been lost … and it wasn’t lost in mandate. It was lost in the free market.
The Market Has Spoken: Gas is Bad for Business
Despite the fact that the overall car market is shrinking, sales of EVs and electric cars are surging, growing more than 65% as the market contracts, driven by consumer demand, year-long waiting lists, and— sure, a few government incentives and tax credits, but nothing compared to the massive subsidies in place to secure a ready access to fossil fuels.
That’s just on Main Street. Over on Wall Street, the street that actually matters, the market has spoken even more loudly, with American EV upstart Tesla scoring an overall market cap that’s higher than not just any other car company — but, at some points in time, bigger than the entire American and Japanese auto industries, combined. (Emphasis mine —Ed.)
The reality — the fact that it’s the market, not the government mandates that won’t take effect for well over a decade that’s pushing internal combustion engines into the scrapheap of history, is going to be a very bitter pill for guys who equate noise with masculinity and wear shirts like this laughably “Boomer-esqueTM” t-shirt which reads, “Gasoline Forever” to swallow.
And make no mistake, it is a pill that SEMA leadership would be well advised to swallow now, before the government mandates actually start to come into play and turn that bitter pill into a suppository the size of a football.
SOURCE | IMAGES: SEMA.
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One Response
It’s laughable that SEMA wants to preserve gasoline cars. It reminds me of the argument that we need coal. Some people can’t or won’t let go. I say let the market decide.