(VitalNews.org) – It seems like modern Democrats rarely meet a product or practice they don’t seek to tax or ban, and the good old-fashioned internal combustion engine is next. After an abortive attempt to frighten Americans into supporting a ban on gas-fired stoves and furnaces from the White House, Democrat states seem hungry to find at least one “dirty” product to ban.
GOP lawmakers in Delaware are pushing back on the left’s plan to regulate gas cars out of existence.
Republicans in the Delaware state house are introducing bills that would block other state departments from making the sale of internal combustion engines illegal. The bills are aimed at the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), which conservatives fear will follow the lead of other liberal states like California in the zeal to force consumers to buy electric cars.
Unsurprisingly, spokesmen for Democratic Governor John Carney claimed 6 months ago that the state’s climate action plan didn’t include plans to phase out internal combustion engines, but the devil is in the details. The governor’s office qualified this by saying the state had not had time to consider the “feasibility” of a ban.
It appears the state has found the time. The DNREC proposed regulations following California’s vehicle standards and called for gradually phasing out gasoline-powered cars. This would force car makers to manufacture the electric models liberal politicians want, but many ordinary Americans do not.
Delaware’s plan calls for a total ban on the sale of internal combustion vehicles by 2035. The legislation put forward by state Republicans would prevent the DNREC from enacting these regulations.
Opponents say the ban on gasoline vehicles will do little to nothing for the “environment,” but they will severely restrict consumer choice. They claim that ordinary middle-class and poor Americans would be forced to buy premium-priced electric cars.
The proposed DNREC rules would require car dealers to have at least 35 percent electric cars on the lot by 2026.
Copyright 2023, VitalNews.org
