By Mark W. Fowler

“This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” —Neil Armstrong on landing on the moon

It is possible to send men to the moon and return them safely back to earth. In 1961, when President Kennedy committed the nation to this venture, the rationale for doing so was to beat the Russians in space. At the time, the Russians had placed the Sputnik satellite in space followed by Yuri Gargarin, the first man to orbit the earth. Between 1969 and 1972, there were six manned missions to the moon and one failure (Apollo 13). Twelve American men have walked on the moon. No other country has achieved that goal, and the United States has not returned in 52 years because it is just too expensive for whatever benefit might be obtained.

The cost of that endeavor was an inflation-adjusted $288 billion.

It is possible to make electric-powered cars and has been for over 100 years. It is possible to set up a preliminary network of charging stations, although making charging stations and supplying the electricity to do so for millions of cars may be impossible because of cost. But the proposed savings in carbon emissions is diminished by the fact that most electricity in the United States is generated by coal.

Consider these facts: Fiskar, a manufacturer of electric vehicles, has filed for bankruptcy. It made 10,000 vehicles, only half of which were delivered, and the remaining inventory is insufficient to cover its debt. Part of the problem is the prohibitive cost of manufacturing these vehicles, coupled with consumer resistance.

Ford’s electric vehicle division reports a loss of $1.3 billion, or about $132,000 for each of the 10,000 electric vehicles sold in the first quarter of this year.

Hertz invested heavily in electric vehicles in its rental fleet. It is now unloading many of those vehicles at a loss because of consumer resistance and the excessive cost of maintaining those vehicles. Hertz reported a loss of almost $400 million in the first quarter of this year.

President Biden’s administration has pledged $7.5 billion to build 500,000 fast-charging stations by 2030. Seven stations have been completed.

A spinoff of the race to the moon was the rover nuclear rocket. Kennedy mentioned it in his proposal to go to the moon. The concept never went anywhere; it was impractical and too expensive.

Regardless of what coastal elites think, the input of millions of consumers will always result in the optimal distribution of resources in the most efficient way. At the advent of automobiles, power was derived from steam, petroleum, and electricity. Gasoline-powered internal combustion engines prevailed because they were cheaper than the alternatives. Presently, hybrid electric and gas-powered vehicles produce fewer emissions without the range limitations of strictly electric vehicles. Why isn’t the government pushing this?

Nothing will be gained if electric vehicles are forced on the American public at a cost that is unsustainable.

Mark W. Fowler is a board-certified physician and former attorney. He can be reached at [email protected].