Photo by Gage Skidmore

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, considered the most likely Democratic candidate for president in 2024 after Joe Biden in the latest Washington Post ranking, says the solution to high gas prices is getting “most Americans” to switch to electric vehicles — willingly or not.

Buttigieg is issuing federal regulations to force states to limit the use of gas-powered vehicles. If he becomes president, we’ll be living in green hell, compelled to buy pricey EVs to comply with his climate zealotry.

Right now, fewer than 1% of vehicles on the road are electric. EVs are probably the long-term future, but they won’t solve the current pain at the pump; they cost too much, and charging them is a logistical nightmare. The U.S. has 145,000 gas stations but only 6,000 fast-charging stations.

On a radio show July 14, Buttigieg roiled the audience by suggesting that switching to electric cars, rather than producing more energy, is the answer. Meanwhile, gas prices are predicted to rise as high as $6 a gallon this fall, according to an internal U.S. Treasury analysis, or even higher in J.P. Morgan’s worst-case scenario.

EVs are not the answer. Buttigieg is living in la-la land. The average new EV costs about $66,000. A good deal is the 2022 Kia EV6, priced at $40,900 before add-ons, according to U.S. News and World Report. Even that’s more than most people can afford. Three-quarters of Americans who need a car buy a used one, paying around $31,000 for it.

EVs are for big spenders. AAA reports a staggering 78% of EV buyers own other cars. They’re in the income bracket to afford multiple cars. They drive the EV short distances but still fall back on their gas-powered car for long-distance driving.

Lucky for them. Getting a charge away from home isn’t fast or easy, according to the MIT Technology Review. Gas-powered cars zip in and out of gas stations. EV owners have to cool their heels for a minimum of 15 minutes to put a couple of hundred miles on the vehicle, even at the fastest Tesla Supercharger.

That is, if you can find a charging station. They are “nearly nonexistent in rural America,” said MIT.

Even charging at home can be a problem. Take the Tesla Model Y, ranked one of the best electric SUVs of 2022. Even with a 220-volt charger installed in your home, it takes up to 11 hours to power up this model. That’s more than most people sleep in a night.

That’s assuming you’re allowed to recharge. With some states facing brownouts and electricity curbs, there could be restrictions. Texas has already asked EV drivers to avoid charging during peak times. Texas isn’t producing enough electricity to support widespread charging. Imagine being told you can’t plug your car in at night to drive to work the next morning.

The fact is, the nation lacks the infrastructure to support a rapid total transition to EVs, and many states lack the electricity generation as well.

Many of these problems are temporary. The major auto companies are betting on EVs for the future. Both GM and Tesla are partnering with convenience store chains across the country to install charging stations. (The federal government is also funding some stations.) Nearly 14% of Sheetz stores, a regional Mid-Atlantic chain, have Tesla chargers. Sheetz is delighted to sell soft drinks and snacks to EV owners as they wait to power up.

In the long run, count on market ingenuity to solve the shortcomings of EVs and increase their affordability, just like what happened with cellphones. Unfortunately, Buttigieg refuses to wait. He’d rather ram the technology down the public’s throats.

On July 7, he proposed regulations to compel states to reduce CO2 highway emissions, effectively outlawing gas-powered vehicles. The regulations appear to exceed the Department of Transportation’s authority and will be challenged in court. But they indicate Buttigieg’s mindset.

Beware making this climate radical the next president of the United States.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To find out more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM

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1 year ago

He’s a idiot

Redwolf
1 year ago
Reply to  mark

Please don’t insult idiots. A rock is more on his level.

Tim
1 year ago
Reply to  Redwolf

That’s insulting to rocks!😜

typicalwhiteguy
1 year ago

Best thing this little twit can do is keep his moronic ideas to himself and stick to but pirating.
Nobody wants to be lectured to by an arrogant, ignorant climate hoax zealot. Go chest feed your kids. Hope you and your “husband” don’t give them monkey pox.

Last edited 1 year ago by typicalwhiteguy
1 year ago

He’s an abomination!! He can’t even decide what a normal marriage is!!! No, soon and very soon these mongrels will be taken down!! And they can stick those failed EVs where the sun don’t shine, I’m sure he’d enjoy that!!!

Richard Allen Hennessy
1 year ago

When electric vehicles are better than my diesel-powered vehicle, I’ll be happy to have one, but I won’t accept recommendations from a lightweight like Mayor Pete, who was never qualified for his position,

Redwolf
1 year ago

Buttgigger the fairy lives in fairyland so he wants the rest of us to join him. Sorry for your luck fruitcake. The rest of us have to deal with reality.

bozo
1 year ago

the hell with this Flamer….mabye he can afford one but i cant…take it to heart or take it in the stink star idiot !!!

1 year ago
Reply to  bozo

I wouldn’t have one if somebody gave it to me as a gift!! No thank you, little Petie! And I’ve read serveral accounts about a new battery costing almost as much as a new car and other maintenance being exorbitantly expensive, even if you can find someone who can work on them! The only person I’ve ever known who DID buy one, said it was the biggest mistake she ever made. I imagine there are a lot of people who blindly fell for this hoax, that feel the same way about now.

charles A wilkins
1 year ago

Don’t believe biden and the democrats, look no further then their America last policy China first policy, look at their in power, financial gain, pelosi and family, biden and family, look at the pawns they put on office, look at our open borders and now” Polio” has returned to the United States because of biden’s border policy, times for changes America vote them out keep them out, vote in the mid terms.. 

Robespierre
1 year ago

He not only is a queer but like all queers they take anything that is seriously relavant and mock it with their aside opinions.

Linc.
1 year ago

What in the first place makes this Butthead qualified to head this department

1 year ago
Reply to  Linc.

He enabled them to check off one of their “equity” boxes — meaning no skills, experience, or qualifications required. You only need to be a member of one of the “poor-pitiful-me, I’m-so-picked-on” whiny minority groups! Look at every single member of his administration, and you will see that each of them was hired for that very same reason — to check off a box. Disgusting, and just one more reason for the destruction raining down on our country!!

Joe
1 year ago

Listen butthead, our grid is already to collapse, it’s so old and out of date,it could be taken out at any time.Adding electric cars to this would definitely put the grid in dire straights. U dumbocraps are fkg idiots,we aren’t going to switch over to electric, because it’s just not feasable, where in the hell do u think that electicity comes from. Ya coal,oil,and gas, u ever heard of them before? Get your head out of your behind, so u can think better,or just get out of office, with your idiotic plans.Only u dummycraps, could come with this insanity, of electric cars and collapse to our grid.

Tim
1 year ago

Buttlick is one of the biggest democrat fools out there! He has the ability to think, unlike biden, but can’t make a rational though to save his life!

1 year ago
Reply to  Tim

There will be no mandate so this queer can forget it!!! WE WILL NOT COMPLY!!!

1 year ago

When a guy dumb enough to have a man for a wife like Obama does no one wants to listen to their crap

1 year ago
Reply to  Bidencheat

AMEN TO THAT!!!!!

1 year ago

If these car companies fall for this crap, they will lose their asses off!!! Who’s going to buy them at these prices?!!! Not to mention all the poor qualities they present!! Pay that much money for a damn car that you can only use at certain times, don’t use the radio, air conditioning, or heat, have your travels being monitored with a damn kill switch etc!!! I’ll be dammed if I’ll be forced to pay that much for a car that sucks!!!!

1 year ago

Hey screw up!!! You will not take away my gas car and stick me with those dead end EVs!!! And you will NEVER be president so go back under the rock you came from homo!!!

Geoff cobbett
1 year ago

He is going to destroy America

1 year ago
Reply to  Geoff cobbett

Well, he is just one of the ones who has destruction as a goal!

Diane
1 year ago

Why would anyone listen to this Butthead? He is simply a political appointee without one whit of previous experience in the field of transportation except maybe driving his car to meet up with his partner on the gay beachs of California and Long Island, N.Y.

1 year ago
Reply to  Diane

Like every other member of the White House squatter’s administration!

1 year ago

F##K Butagig

1 year ago
Reply to  Jack

Careful, his little hubby might get jealous! 🙂

Dede
1 year ago

Who does this ignorant ass think he is? We don’t do well with those that think being president makes them king. We aren’t Canada and this attitude is why the democrats need to be gone

1 year ago

Make him president no We the people will not do that but the Dims cheating will .

SUE
1 year ago

WHO THE HE;; DOES THIS LITTLE CREEP THINK HE IS?? HE RUINED INDIANA WHEN HE WAS MAYOR………….IS HE SENDING A CHECK TO BUY THE CAR?????????

Zues Papadopoulos
1 year ago

Psychotic. Dude has some serious mental issues.

Roger
1 year ago

Butt Plug’s been sucking on too many exhaust pipes!

Antogeny
1 year ago

Buttagag is a fool. He should be drawn and quartered.

CBG
1 year ago

Booty-gig is a total fool, he will screw up anything he does like he did to South Bend IN when she was the mayor there. They made it Bend Over IN like he is trying to do so to all American car & truck drivers. This clown is a real idiot….oh yeah, a DEM!!!!

Garden Fixer
1 year ago

The price of gas will never come down. Hurricanes are wrecking refineries and they’re too old to rebuild. Rising seas are submerging coastal refineries Regulations make it hard to drill anywhere near where people go. Oil companies are investing in non fossil answers. After a 4000 mile road trip to the southwest I passed a dozen cars by going five, and on deserted highways, 10 miles under the speed limit. I’m saving 5 to 10%, 20% if I was going 10 miles over the speed limit. So anyone who complains about high gas prices why don’t you just slow down and save the money