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There have been several articles recently about the green economy, the coming success or failure of EVs, species at risk due to climate change and how the world is coming crashing down around us. How do we know who to believe and what to trust?
It is the Facts that Matter, and we read so many opinions that we sometimes feel like we are swimming in a sea of distrust.
The Green Economy
One national newspaper outlined that the federal government under Justin Trudeau sold us a bill of goods about climate change on the basis that we would have choices. Choices that reflected our values and where we wanted to spend our hard-earned money to lower greenhouse gases.
We would have the option to park our cars and take public transportation. That is OK if there is public transportation, but that excludes a lot of people in many areas of Canada.
We would be able to replace our internal combustion engine cars with electric vehicles that would be competitive in price and performance, with lots of refuelling stations, and less expensive to operate. It is being discovered that “less expensive to operate” is far from the truth.
And recently, the big announcement by Trudeau that he wants to give away heat pumps. Who pays for the pumps? And in many parts of Canada, they will not work. What? They will not work efficiently where temperatures drop below -20 Deg. C., and that covers a large part of Canada.
Trudeau pushed that this would all happen with 80% of all households being better off because of the carbon tax rebates. The Federal Budget Office has put that fallacy to rest, stating that 60% of the households will be worse off.
We could continue with many more examples, but everywhere we look, there is a subsidy to save the environment. Can we afford the way this is going and survive an economy that is on subsidy life support?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that global warming and climate change are not important, if not critical. But have we seen anything work the way Trudeau and his government have said it is going to work? No, and there must be a better way.
There is. At the Facts that Matter, we firmly support evaluating potential actions against the principles of a circular economy – It must be good for the people, the planet and be sustainable.
At Facts that Matter, we are 100% in support of greening the economy. What we do not support is the use of fear-mongering and political opportunism that does not make sense. Remember the fearmongering as we neared the change from the year 1999 to 2000? All the fearmongering about what was going to happen had millions getting ready to “jump off a bridge.” Nothing happened, and I do not believe the world is going to end when the clock strikes 2030. That does not mean we just throw environmental caution to the wind. We need actions that satisfy the principles of a circular economy, or in the end, we will not be able to afford our concern for the environment, which leads me to a few other snippets.
Are EVs the Answer?
Trudeau and the Liberal Party have imposed a 2035 EV mandate requiring that all new passenger vehicles and light trucks sold in Canada after 2035 be electric, zero-emission vehicles. The rules will be phased in gradually, beginning in 2026, with a 20% requirement.
In 2022, about 0.36 million cars and light trucks were sold in Canada. As of September 2023, that number is up 9% to 0.39 million, which brings us to EVs.
If we use the 2023 numbers, the car dealerships in Canada will be forced to sell 20% or seventy-eight thousand EVs. Will that happen? Here are some costs that most of us will consider determining if we can afford an EV.
When factoring in purchase cost, the average cost of an EV is $10,360 each year.1
When factoring in purchase cost, the average cost of a gas vehicle is $8,691 each year.2
Then there is insurance. Matthew Avery, Research Director at Automotive Risk Intelligence company, said, "We are (supposed to be) buying electric cars for sustainability reasons. But an EV isn't very sustainable if you've got to throw the battery away after a minor collision.” The cost of replacing an EV is pushing insurance rates up. Then there are the batteries. EV battery problems expose a hole in the green "circular economy" touted by carmakers, and we have not touched on the issues of where all the chemicals will come from? What are the environmental and species at risk problems? And new challenges in the supply chain make one question the belief that battery prices will come down.
The End
There are so many concerns and problems with the implementation of greening the environment by Trudeau and his government that one has to wonder where we are headed. No more gas car sales by 2035? We should all switch to heat pumps and take public transit where none exists. Add to that, do you believe EV battery prices will decrease? So much considered with projection – what is to happen, not what has happened. Right now, everywhere we turn, we see the Trudeau government handing out another subsidy, which makes us, at the Facts that Matter, really wonder if our new Green Economy is on Subsidy Life Support?
Best wishes from all of us ...
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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