Today's Editors' Choice
- Kathryn Jean Lopez: Sex, Hefner and Hookup Culture
- Gary Bauer: Thank You, Green Bay!
- E. Calvin Beisner: How Did We Reduce the Death Rate From Hurricanes by 98.5%?
To view all of today's opinion, click here.
Opinion in Brief
Investor's Business Daily: "California is considering a ban on the sale of gasoline-powered cars. If state officials go this route, it will have little effect on CO2 emissions, but will harm consumers and kill California's economy. ... To put it bluntly, this is one of the most ill-conceived public policy ideas in a state that seems to have them in abundance. First, some perspective. According to the EPA, all transportation — cars, trucks, planes, trains and boats — are responsible for about a quarter of the nation's CO2 emissions. The share contributed by passenger cars alone is considerably smaller than that. In the European Union, for example, cars account for 12% of CO2 emissions. California's move would make no noticeable dent in global CO2 emissions. Plus, it would take well over a decade before the entire car fleet turned over to all electric. What's more, the CO2 reduction claims from such a ban are wildly exaggerated. Remember, electric cars don't run on magic. They run on electricity. So forcing car owners to buy only electric cars will mean a massive surge in demand for electricity, which is generated largely by greenhouse-emitting natural gas and coal."
