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So our glorious leaders are proposing to ban the evil internal combustion engine from 2030 and force us all to go electric (presumably). I would quite like an EV (too expensive) but I am not a big fan of banning diesel and petrol cars for the following reasons
So our glorious leaders are proposing to ban the evil internal combustion engine from 2030 and force us all to go electric (presumably). I would quite like an EV (too expensive) but I am not a big fan of banning diesel and petrol cars for the following reasons
1)I don’t like banning things in general, in a free society it should always be a last resort. Our approach to climate change often seems to put banning as first resort, which tells you what kind of people are in charge.
2)If EVs get a lot cheaper by 2030, we don’t need a ban, if they don’t, it’s going to be expensive for the public. Not just for new cars, it will increase used car prices as well. Some might think that stopping poor people from buying cars is a good idea, but nobody dares say it
3)If 98% of cars being sold are EVs, do the other 2% matter. There are petrol-heads out there that love their cars (not me, I don’t care). In a democracy, stopping people from indulging their passions needs a really good reason.
4)Will we have enough battery materials to make this happen? I am sure that there will be big developments in the technology, but there is a huge risk from shortages, so we are assuming some big breakthroughs
5)Internal combustion engines have improved dramatically, thanks to completion from EVs. We are basically telling all auto companies not to continue the development, even though we are not sure we can replace them
6)Biofuels, biomethane or synthetic crude from waste might be a partial solution that could lower carbon emissions for ICE vehicles, but this move rules out that idea
7)Reducing carbon emissions covers a huge range of sectors and requires the market to produce complex solutions. How do you balance banning ICEs with building wind turbines or investing in hydrogen? There are lots of trade-offs, and bans suggest a lack of thorough thinking.
8)Pricing in externalities is the fairest way to push change, but this takes humility politicians like to believe that they have the answer and therefore should impose it on everyone
