CA Senate Republicans Ask US Senators Schiff & Padilla to Repeal Newsom-Backed EV Mandate

While Governor Gavin Newsom calls those who oppose his electric vehicle mandate  to outlaw gas-powered cars by 2035 “big polluters” and “right-wing propaganda machine,” California’s 10 Senators Wednesday appealed to the state’s U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), “to vote in favor of House Joint Resolution 88 (Joyce-PA) and Senate Joint Resolution 45 (Capito-WV) that would repeal California’s discriminatory, arbitrary and poorly thought out electric vehicle mandate.”

As Newsom, Schiff and Padilla and other Democrat lawmakers made a last ditch effort to try to sway the U.S. Senate vote on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waiver for California’s 2035 new gas powered car sales ban mandate on Wednesday, all ten California State Senate Republicans today requested in a letter to the state’s two U.S. Senators that they work to repeal the electric vehicle mandate in California that would outlaw non-plug-in hybrids and gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.

The letter states the mandate is discriminatory, arbitrary and poorly thought out and cites lack of a statewide charging station infrastructure, the high price of EVs, and the state’s already overtaxed and unreliable electrical grid as reasons to repeal the EV only mandate:

“It is simply unrealistic to believe that a reliable electric vehicle charging network of stations will be constructed and operational throughout the state by 2035,” the senators said in the letter. “Even if it were possible, the average Californian cannot afford to buy and charge an electric vehicle.”

“Californians are already struggling with high prices, particularly in rural and suburban areas of our state,” said Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (R-Jackson). “They cannot simply get rid of their current vehicle and run out and buy an $80,000 EV. This mandate is an unrealistic pipedream of the wealthy coastal elites.”

“Families in California need to have a wide variety of options available to them for transportation,” said Senator Roger W. Niello (R-Fair Oaks). “This one-size-fits-all mandate is the wrong way to move into the future of clean energy vehicles.”

“This mandate is another example of out-of-touch bureaucrats trying to force their agenda on everyday Californians,” said Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta). “Families can’t afford to gamble on expensive technology that depends on an unreliable electric grid. The state shouldn’t be dictating what kind of cars people are allowed to drive.”

“The wealthy governor from Marin County can afford to buy any expensive EV he wants, but most Californians don’t have that luxury,” said Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach). “In the real world, it still doesn’t make economic or practical sense for most working families to buy an EV and try to keep it charged.”

“Senate Republicans remain committed to cutting costs and helping families afford to stay in this state.”

Here is the letter.