By now you likely know how California is leading the charge when it comes to government in the US forcing people to buy electric vehicles. While some see that as a noble cause to save the planet from the evils of climate change, others think governance through coercion isn’t appropriate, at least not on consumer issues. Then there are school districts which aren’t too keen on the idea of only using electric school buses come 2035.
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That might sound far off, but it’s just over 11 years away, so some present school administrators will have to deal with the implementation of the new legislation passed and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in October. While schools in the big population centers where routes are shorter and charging stations are more plentiful might think this plan is great, more rural districts are singing a different tune.
The Los Angeles Times dug into this issue in a recent report, which is interesting considering that publication’s unabashed fangirling for the rushed and forced EV adoption movement. It does a good job of humanizing this push and the problems behind it instead of just keeping it as a discussion of ideologies.
One of the school districts the article profiles is located in the mountainous northeastern corner of California. Athletes from the high school have to travel far and wide to compete against other teams since there aren’t any nearby. Since the bus has to pass through many remote areas where even cell service doesn’t exist, an electric bus wouldn’t work.
What’s more, geographically California is large and spread out, with areas of mountains which get cold and snowy in the winter. These conditions don’t favor electric vehicles’ batteries, negatively impacting range.
This is where political ideology meets real world practicality issues and those caught in the squeeze are none too happy. But, as pointed out in the article, anyone who complains is just painted as a heretical climate change denier and handily dismissed.
While there’s a push to extend the electric school bus mandate for rural districts in the state, what about just regular people who live there and are subject to the state’s EV mandate? As we’ve predicted before, forcing consumer behavior through government mandate has a history of creating more problems and this will be no exception.
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