The ongoing Culture War™ has weaponized even our most innocent and apolitical joys at the present, and there appears to be no effort in changing that. From “problematic” cartoons, to “controversial” messaging in movies, and even questionable public education practices, we can’t seem to get away from it. That’s especially true about cars. There’s an awful lot of stereotyping going on about just who you are as a person based on the vehicle you drive. And if you drive an electric car, chances are you lean left, believe that status-quo “green” advocacy like EVs will somehow deter climate change, and probably have no idea that WEF founder Klaus Schwab is a suspected Leninist. This stereotype is somehow not the case if you drive a Hummer EV, because it’s heavy or something.
As it turns out, however, the government of Wyoming appears sick and tired of the whole thing. And the Wyoming Legislature has drafted a resolution to phase out sales of new electric vehicles in the Cowboy State by 2035 as part of their Senate Joint Resolution 4 memorandum, while in the meantime encourage industries and residents to voluntarily limit the sale and purchase of new EVs.
Image copyright Steven Pham, Muscle Cars & Trucks
And they even admit to it. The resolution’s sponsor, Wyoming State Senator Jim Anderson, R-Casper, eludes that the intention of the proposal is to push back against bans on new sales of cars with internal combustion engines in states like California and New York.
“The Legislature would be saying, ‘If you don’t like our petroleum cars, well, we don’t like your electric cars,’” Anderson told Cowboy State Daily, while the wording of State Joint Resolution 4 states that oil and gas production has been one of the Cowboy State’s “proud and valued industries” that has created “countless jobs” and revenues for Wyoming. It even go as far as to praise gas-powered vehicles for enabling the state’s industries and businesses to transport goods and resources throughout the nation.
Backing up the legislature’s reasoning further is citing the 2021 study by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which modeled that electric vehicles require roughly six times more minerals than conventional cars, including critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, zinc and rare earths. That’s a lot mining. That’s a lot of tearing the earth open as a means of saving it. And it begs to question what EV advocates are willing to support once mining companies start ripping apart Idaho for cobalt.
Wyoming, which holds 3 electoral votes to California’s 55, appears to be signaling to the anti-EV crowd that it would perhaps like more electoral votes. And perhaps that, if you don’t enjoy electric vehicles, you can simply move to “The Equality State” and not have to worry about them in the least. Though, it may be nothing more than a symbolic gesture, or a troll.
“One might even say tongue-in-cheek, but obviously it’s a very serious issue that deserves some public discussion,” said co-sponsor, Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas. Boner. His name is Boner. Nice.
“I’m interested in making sure that the solutions that some folks want to the so-called climate crisis are actually practical in real life,” he continued. “I just don’t appreciate when other states try to force technology that isn’t ready.”
So, Wyoming wants to ban electric cars. But not until 2035. And, like California’s (and New York, and Washington, and Oregon) opposite messaging, there’s little substance to believe any of this legislation will actually happen.
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