- First things first: this is just a proposed bill, and even if it were passed, it would not ban the sale of electric vehicles in Wyoming.
- Instead, it’s a political messaging bill, spreading love to the oil and gas industry and saying EVs don’t work in the states.
- We agree that different regions of the country are positioned differently when it comes to EV adoption, but we look at the intent of legislators with this bill because they added a line saying that, if the bill gets adopted, copies will be made. sent to the Governor of California. Why is that?
Republican legislators in Wyoming have decided it’s time to bring the debate over the state’s sale of electric vehicles into the political arena. Four state senators and two state representatives have submitted a bill proposal (SJ0004) expressing support “to phase out sales of new electric vehicles in Wyoming by 2035.”
It’s a simple little bill, which presents a very unbalanced view of the benefits and costs of EVs and, ultimately, would not actually ban the sale of EVs. Still not. If adopted, the bill will only do two things. First, it would force the legislature to set a goal “for sales of new electric vehicles in the state of Wyoming to be phased out by 2035”. The bill will also “[encourage] Industry and Wyoming residents restrict the sale and purchase of new electric vehicles in Wyoming.” So, no actual legislation, just encouragement.
Wyoming bill opening.
“The legislature is going to say, ‘If you don’t like our petroleum cars, we don’t like your electric cars,'” the resolution’s sponsor, Republican State Senator Jim Anderson, told local media outlets. Cowboy State Daily. Publication reported late last year that Wyoming would get $24 million from the federal government to install EV charging stations in the state.
If that all sounds like this might be a political stunt and not a legitimate attempt to improve the lives of ordinary citizens, you’re on to something. The “while” section of the proposed bill is full of love interest for the oil and gas industry, saying that the extraction of these resources “has long been one of the industries that Wyoming is proud and valued.” It also talks about how “the oil and gas industry in Wyoming has created countless jobs and has contributed revenue to the state of Wyoming throughout the state’s history.” But the state’s official assessment of the bill said it had “absolutely no fiscal or personnel impact.”
CC: State of California
If that’s not clear enough for you, there is a third recommendation that would apply if the bill became law. Under this section, the Wyoming Secretary of State will be required to send copies of the resolution to President Biden and top federal officials, other Wyoming representatives in Washington, DC, and, get this, the governor of California.
That last line is important and, if you haven’t noticed, odd. Why does the governor of California care what Wyoming does with EV sales? He wouldn’t, but the Republican sponsors seem to want to score a political point by bringing California into it. Last year, California announced it would ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035, an actual law that already influences laws in other states and the auto industry’s long-term planning. This Wyoming cheering invitation? Not too much.
