Wyoming Law Makers Aim to Ban the Sale of Electric Vehicles
Wyoming legislators have introduced a bill to ban EVs by 2034
While countries like Canada and states like California move away from combustion engines, introducing bans on gas-powered cars and providing subsidies on electric vehicles, Wyoming lawmakers have decided to take the opposite approach. Introduced in a bill on January 13th, Senator Jim Anderson and other Republicans support the idea of phasing out the sale of new electric vehicles in Wyoming by 2035.
The bill says that “oil and gas production has long been one of Wyoming’s proud and valued industries,” adding that the industry has created “countless” jobs and brought money into Wyoming throughout its history. Additionally, the bill lists downsides to EVs, like the lack of charging stations, the “massive amount” of power generation needed to sustain the “misadventure of electric vehicles,” and that the critical minerals needed for EVs aren’t easily recyclable so landfills will have to find new ways to dispose of them.
The numbers also support Wyoming’s reluctance to adopt EVs. coal-fired power plants produce about 73% o the state’s electricity, 3/5 of which is sent out of state. This essentially means that the power will come from fossil fuels regardless of the type of car. Moreover, because of inefficiencies in the power grid, combustion engines might be greener than EVs (specifically in Wyoming where most of the power comes from coal).
The resolution wants to ensure the stability of Wyoming’s oil and gas industry, and help preserve the country’s rare minerals for “vital purposes.” The Wyoming GOP also wants copies of the resolution to be sent to President Joe Biden, the president of the Senate, the Speaker, and the governor of California.
According to analysts, this bill is meant to counteract California’s move last August to phase out the sale of gas vehicles by 2035. Following California’s lead, 15 other states have introduced plans to phase out new gas-powered vehicles, aiming for dates between 2030-2035. States like California and Massachusetts plan to completely ban the sales by 2035, whereas other states like Minnesota and Colorado are simply setting emission or sale goals, avoiding committing to a full ban. At the federal level, there is a tax rebate for electric cars, and Biden has announced an informal goal of making half of all new US vehicles electric by 2030.
Anderon told the newspaper “I have a problem with somebody saying, ‘Don’t buy any more petroleum vehicles,” adding that he introduced the bill “just to get the message out that we’re not happy with the states that are outlawing our vehicles.” The resolution’s co-sponsor Senator Brian Boner told the Cowboy State Daily that if the bill passed, it would be entirely symbolic.
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