By Ray Cardello for January 15, 2024, Season / Post 7

Maine is a vast rural state. Yes, I have said that before, but for this topic, it is imperative we understand just how big. With nearly 36,000 square miles, you can put the other five New England states inside Maine’s borders. Madawaska is a little town located at the top of Aroostook County and is the northernmost town in New England. It is home to around 3,800 residents. If those residents wanted to take the 400-mile ride to Kittery, the southernmost town in Maine, in their snappy Tesla sedan, they would have to add about 6 hours of charge time to the 6 hours of drive time. An EV would double the time of the trip, and that is IF they could find a charging station. Maine has only 216 high-speed charging stations but over 1,200 gas stations. Using a 6-pump average per station makes 7,200 gas pumps versus 216 charging stations. Does that sound like the Maine infrastructure is ready for an EV Mandate? I think not. But that is precisely what the Democrat leadership is trying to ram down Mainer’s throat. By the way, Maine is also a frigid state in Winter, and EV batteries lose a tremendous amount of energy running the heaters to keep the batteries warm and viable. A long stretch of RTE 95 is the last place you want to spend a cold winter night in a dead EV, but it will happen.

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection had been scheduled to vote on December 21 on the Advanced Clean Cars II Program, which initially proposed to require 43% of new vehicles sold in Maine to be zero emission by the 2027 model year, increasing to 82% by 2032. The December 18 storm closed the capitol and delayed the vote. A slight change has been made, and the 2028 Model year has replaced the 2027.

They can play with dates and percentages. But I still question the constitutionality of the government mandating the type of car we can own or which appliances we can choose. There seems to be a disregard for the Constitution at the Federal and State levels. Where did the government get this power or liberty, whether it is the type of car or leaf blower, replacing our gas with an electric stove, or controlling our preference for air conditioners? What about our liberty?

According to independent surveys, only 6% of Americans prefer EVs, a far cry from a majority. Hertz announced this week they are selling off 20,000 EVs and restocking with gas-powered vehicles. Hertz customers do not want EVs because of the limitations on where to travel and the extra travel time with frequent charging. The company is losing millions because it jumped on the government EV train.

America was built on the free market and free means of choice, not mandates. There are over 280 million cars in America that the Biden Administration is rendering worthless. Not only will our cars be of no value when forced to replace them with an EV, but where will we scrap nearly 300 million personal vehicles, and when will the government turn its attention to commercial and agricultural? It is unsurprising, but Biden did not think this whole scenario through. He also didn’t get the advice of the car industry or, more importantly, the drivers. Biden, Buttigieg, Kerry, and Granholm know better than we do. The problem is they consistently prove themselves wrong. This case is just another, and Maine is on the wrong side of right or wrong, too.