The happy Salmon Creek owner of a new electric vehicle (“A new kind of traffic jam,” The Columbian, Jan. 15) should be applauded in considering his needs and making his choice based on those needs. The important thing is he had a choice and in a few years our state will remove that choice and mandate only new EVs shall be sold.
If this new owner had wanted to use his vehicle to pull a utility trailer, an RV trailer, or simply “see the USA in his Chevrolet,” would he have made the same choice? What works for him may not work for others so why must a one-size-fits-all approach be forced upon us?
Believing that our state mandates on vehicles, home heating equipment, solar panels, light bulbs, even kitchen appliances will save the planet is delusional. EVs, heat pumps, solar panels, even wind power certainly serve a purpose and should be considered when necessary but we should have the choice to use what we decide is best for us, not what politicians and unelected bureaucrats decide. Mandates are tyranny in disguise.
