From the White House to state capitols across the country, Democrats are pushing for a rapid transition to electric vehicles. President Biden set a target that half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 are electric, and states like California, Washington, and Massachusetts are setting even more aggressive goals that completely phase out the sale of gas passenger vehicles by 2035.
Critics argue it puts the cart before the horse, as the grid can't handle that type of demand (though there are a host of other concerns, too).
"The numbers and the rate of adoption has been developed using political science, not engineering, they're impractical and if we blindly follow these goals that Biden has set out it will cause pain and suffering for the middle class," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last month.
If climate zealots don't want to listen to Republicans, however, perhaps they'll pay attention to the concerns expressed by the CEO of one of the world's largest electric car companies, Elon Musk.
During an energy conference in Norway on Monday, the entrepreneur said acknowledged that oil and gas are still very much needed in the world.
Earlier, Musk said the world must continue to extract oil and gas in order to sustain civilisation, while also developing sustainable sources of energy.
"Realistically I think we need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise civilisation will crumble," Musk told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.
Asked if Norway should continue to drill for oil and gas, Musk said: "I think some additional exploration is warranted at this time."
"One of the biggest challenges the world has ever faced is the transition to sustainable energy and to a sustainable economy," he said. "That will take some decades to complete." (Reuters)
This is not the first time Musk has discussed the importance of oil and gas. Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said output needs to be increased immediately.
Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil & gas exports.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022
In other words, he's being realistic about the pace with which the world integrates new, green technologies with standard forms of energy. Will climate extremists listen?
