RUSTAD: Zero Emission Vehicles? BC collects significant gasoline taxes which pays for transit as well as road maintenance and upgrades. If nobody is buying gasoline, how will this bill be paid
The NDP passed a bill this spring requiring BC to sell nothing but Zero Emission Vehicles by 2040. Was this a good piece of legislation? In my opinion, the goal of having people drive a zero-emission vehicle is a good one, but what the bill did NOT do was explain how this could be achieved. First, where will the electricity come from? With expected population growth, BC will require the equivalent of 4 Site C dams in production, to meet the electrical d emand from electric vehicles. Now some of those vehicles may be hydrogen but the result would be the same as the production of hydrogen still requires electricity. How will this amount of electricity be created? Some say from solar or wind. Those are fine but how will that power be firmed. Also, are you prepared to pay skyrocketing electricity prices? That is what this bill by the NDP will mean. How is that making life more affordable? Second, high speed charging stations requires si...