Letters to the Editor: Simple economics will kill the gas car, not government mandates
To the editor: It won’t be government mandates that destroy the fossil fuel industry; it will be economics and convenience. (“Trump and oil companies are lying to you about electric cars to serve their own interests,” editorial, July 23)
In the U.S. alone, we pay $820 billion a year in direct and indirect health costs from our fossil fuel use, about $2,500 for every American. Every year. That doesn’t include environmental costs from extreme weather, lost crops, climate-induced migration and political destabilization, wildfires, species loss or rising, warming and acidifying seas.
My Hyundai Kona electric vehicle hasn’t been to a gas station in five years and doesn’t need oil changes or tune-ups. It takes me about 10 seconds a few times a week to plug in my home charger. Once we have a few more public charging stations, charging will add about 45 minutes to my occasional road trips to San Francisco or Sacramento.
Tom Hazellef, Seal Beach
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To the editor: Sowing confusion and preying on our anxieties is alive and well, judging from The Times’ editorial on electric cars.
Living in California, one sees how a simple government regulation on emissions standards can morph into a de facto ban, followed by a national prohibition. One perfect example, courtesy of the California Air Resources Board, is the gas can we grew up with — manufactured for generations and usable by everyone, even those physically impaired, to refill a tank without spilling.
Not anymore. The federal government adopted California’s standard in 2009, banning traditional gas cans nationwide. This was an elimination of consumer choice that is worse for the environment.
Rinse and repeat, but now for cars.
Consumers have spoken: EV sales are declining in California. They are prohibitively more expensive for low-income earners, and drivers are burdened with inadequate charging infrastructure — especially in minority communities.
Consumers deserve a choice, not a mandate.
Matthew Gonzales, Santa Fe, N.M.
The writer is southwest executive director for the Consumer Energy Alliance, a gas and oil advocacy group.
