(11-30-2023, 09:45 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote:

(11-30-2023, 07:21 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: I respectfully disagree.  There's an old saying, "Your freedom ends at the tip of my nose."  Which is to say, sometimes, your freedom infringes on my freedom, and then the government has to step in and set the rules.  In the case of what kind of vehicle you can buy, you obviously don't have any constitutional right to pollute the air I breathe, and since this administration believes we are headed for an environmental disaster in large part because of gas-powered cars, then if you believe that, you have to agree that it is the responsibility of the government to step in and restrict what kind of car you can buy in order to protect everyone else from the pollution generated by that car.  

You can argue the science of it all you want, but in theory, the government does have the right to restrict your freedoms in order to protect everyone else.

I have every right to buy a vehicle I can afford. I'm not arguing pollution, I'm arguing the option of choice. Not everyone can afford an EV. Hell, the country doesn't even have the proper infrastructure to support all the EVs these folks want to enforce. 

Build the infrastructure, make the cars and home charging stations affordable along with the cost of an elevated electric bill FIRST, then talk about phasing out the regular vehicles. 

The idiots in charge know this but are more concerned with the liberals cancelling them.

Your point about affordability is spot on.  The government has some limited powers in this area, not rights, but the affordability to the end user is one of the main limits on their power.   At one time the government may have had the power to say, "these cars pollute too much, everyone adopt this unaffordable clean tech or else go back to horse and buggy." But that was long ago, if ever at all.   The only reason anyone in government, CA, CT, federal, or otherwise, was able to mandate catalytic converters or unleaded gas was affordability. The industry experts said they could make it affordable if the market was mandated and they delivered. Industry experts don't really believe EVs will ever be as practical or affordable as gas cars, even with a guaranteed market.  That could change.  But no one thinks the tech is there today.

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