Everyone get on the bandwagon!
We remember being kids and adolescents having adults ask us if all our friends were to jump off a cliff, would we as well. Sadly, we don’t really hear anyone asking that these days and we think we know why. These days it seems like bandwagon thinking is the popular thing to do. On that same note, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state will be following California in banning gas- and diesel-combusting passenger vehicles by 2035, so that should turn out great.
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This really isn’t some huge shock, considering Hochul signed the law enabling the ban last year. Instead, this announcement serves to rally the troops and get people all excited about having to plug their vehicle in for hours on end to go just a couple hundred miles. With electricity costs in many parts of the world skyrocketing faster than rapidly-rising gas prices, we’re sure everyone is going to love this law.
Of course, the cool kids in California did this first, with CARB there now getting ready to hold everyone’s feet to the fire. You won’t be able to register a new vehicle that burns fossil fuels directly, having instead to buy a vehicle you plug in and the power company burns fossil fuels to provide the electricity.
The reason why everyone is following California actually has to do with the special nature of CARB or the California Air Resource Board. It’s able to set the state’s own emissions standards instead of the EPA doing so from its ivory tower in D.C. States like New York can then legally follow CARB’s standard, not deviating from it in the least. This is why over a dozen others states have or likely will line up right behind California, getting on the bandwagon or jumping off the cliff, whatever analogy floats your electrified boat.
Plenty of experts predict this will push consumers in other states into having to buy EVs. Others disagree, arguing ICE vehicles will still be popular in states that believe in personal choice. It will be interesting to see how these bans roll out and what effect they have on the overall market. Until then, we’ll be enjoying burning our fossil fuels directly along with a few tires.
Images via Ford, Facebook
