The state with the smallest population in the country has made a big statement about electric vehicles. A few lawmakers are saying, “Keep your electric vehicles in California, thanks.”
In the Wyoming Senate, the decision to repeal and ban electric vehicle sales is, ostensibly, a defense of the state’s economy, which is largely dependent on oil and gas and roughly three head of cattle for every human in the state.
Wyoming is inhabited by people who don’t usually believe in meddling in free markets. like Most republican state in the nationA home for free thinkers, oil workers and pickup-driving ranchers, SJ0004 A decision that seems counter to the libertarian mindset of many Wyoming residents. (Related: Deroy Murdoch: McCarthy’s agenda should focus on unmasking Democrats)
So what gives Wyoming? Why so skeptical of electric cars? Why not embrace this great new electric future?
The decision is a public policy directive, to be sure, and a warning shot on the bow that the state doesn’t have the electric vehicle infrastructure and doesn’t intend to anytime soon. The text says that by 2035, no more sales of these vehicles will be allowed in the Cowboy State.
This is also a puppet of the legislative stage, which is in opposition to the environmental movement’s intention to end oil and gas production in America. The decision is a way to get some inconvenient truths noticed by the public, both at the state and national levels. He starts a conversation about whether Wyoming would even survive as an economy if there was no market for oil and gas.
There is a but 59 charging stations In the entire state of Wyoming, which has 211,000 registered vehicles, most of them are gas or diesel trucks. This is a working class economy no match for the Chevy Volt (charging time 4 to 13 hours).
From border to border on I-80, Wyoming takes more than 400 miles, and an electric vehicle can’t do it on a single charge. The state would need to install at least 40 charging stations for every 1,000 vehicles, and that’s in the best of circumstances. A place like Wyoming, with long, lonely stretches of highway, is looking to build more than 8,000 charging stations.
Wyoming drivers, a smart and practical American type, have already figured it out. There are only about 500 Electric vehicles registered in the state, none of which are found on a deserted stretch outside Armento, population five.
What environmental lawmakers in California and New York don’t realize is that northern states, with their long stretches of wilderness and secluded highways, face another electric vehicle challenge: battery life. The batteries in these cars drain faster when it’s cold, and being stranded with a dead vehicle is a life-threatening scenario in places like Wyoming, Montana, the Dakota and Alaska.
Last year, a group of electric vehicle enthusiasts headed to Deadhorse, Alaska, to prove that electric cars can go the distance. In advance, they sent diesel trucks ahead to install portable charging stations along the Dalton Highway, so cars could stop and recharge.
They’ve made the 1,000-mile trip from Fairbanks, but they’ve also proven that using electric cars in the Arctic is impractical and, for Alaska, just plain ridiculous.
Electric cars made the trip in the summer, but in the winter, batteries, car heaters, and defrosters drain energy at a much faster rate. Besides, nobody drives the Dalton Highway in a compact sedan. This is truck country.
Also last year, the capital of Alaska decided to purchase an all-electric bus. The bus has never been able to go far and is considered by some to be a greatness in this small town that has some of the mildest winters in Alaska.
Juno electric bus It’s been upgraded as being able to go 210 miles before needing a charge, enough to get you through a 10-hour shift. But even in mild summer weather—in the fifties and sixties—he only covered 170 miles. In the winter, a bus can’t go 100 miles without needing more juice.
Wyoming’s climate is unforgiving. Disposing of these problem cars is a landfill’s nightmare. The minerals needed to build them come from China. Senators know that.
Environmentalists are not interested in these inconvenient facts. For them, it’s the full speed ahead of all electric cars. Thus, Wyoming legislators stalled the narrative.
Looking into the future, that might be seen as a warning shot to those who might try to ban ranching by preventing Wyoming’s 1.2 million invasive cattle from existing.
This electric vehicle ban isn’t the first of its kind in Wyoming, and it won’t be the last rodeo with forces working against American energy independence.
Susan Downing is the publisher of Must Read Alaska.
The views and opinions expressed in this comment are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Corporation.
All content generated by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is freely available to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their affiliation with DCNF. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.