Proof that California lawmakers live in a land of make believe TOM KNIGHTON

But it seems a new regulation from the Golden State takes this idea and ramps it up to new heights, removing any doubt anyone should have about lawmakers’ grip on reality.

Proof that California lawmakers live in a land of make believe

TOM KNIGHTON

JUN 18

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The state of California is one of those places where you know the people making the laws aren’t really living in the same world you or I do. There are just too many laws being passed that ignore reality to think otherwise.

It’s part of why people think of California as a state of crazy.

But it seems a new regulation from the Golden State takes this idea and ramps it up to new heights, removing any doubt anyone should have about lawmakers’ grip on reality.

From Hot Air:

California has long been infamous for its regulatory regime, imposing harsh restrictions on businesses and individuals. This pattern has been accelerating since climate change alarmism took hold in the state, with demands for carbon emission reductions serving as an excuse to restrict or ban everything from charcoal grills to gas stoves and more. Vehicles of all sorts have been swept up in this craze, with electric cars, trucks, and buses becoming the mandatory modes of transportation. Now, however, the state has its eyes on another form of transportation. Under a new proposed rule, the operation of diesel freight trains older than 23 years will be banned so they must be replaced with electric trains. That will certainly come as welcome news to climate change alarmists, but there's one small problem with this proposal. There are currently no fully electric trains in commercial production and there is no estimated timeline for when such trains might be commercially available given the current state of the technology. In other words, California is looking to mandate the use of trains that do not exist. (Institute for Energy Research)

Under a California proposed rule, starting in 2030, no diesel freight train older than 23 years may operate in the state, despite locomotives usually lasting 40 years. Half of all new trains would have to be “zero-emission” by 2030 and by 2035, all new trains must be zero-emission, even though there are no currently available electric models. The rule would essentially guarantee all train fleets would be zero-emission no later than 2058. Both the timeline for testing prototypes under development and the associated cost of an electric locomotive are uncertain. 

The California regulation would mandate investments in locomotives that are not yet commercially viable while limiting the lifespans of more than 25,000 diesel-electric locomotives currently in use. The scope and financial burden of the regulation is truly mind boggling. The charging system required is also mind boggling as the batteries it must charge are big enough to power small towns. Bloomberg, normally a supporter of such gestures, opined that California’s new regulation “may break the freight railroad network.”

If this rule is approved, it could effectively destroy the railroad industry in California starting in a handful of years. The costs that would be imposed would be staggering. Perfectly serviceable locomotives would have to be pulled from service as much as 17 years ahead of their expected lifespans. Fully half of the currently operating trains would need to be retired in just six years. 

Now, some might argue that California is trying to force the hands of train manufacturers; make them step up efforts to develop and produce such trains. After all, JFK managed to get NASA to put a man on the moon before the 1970s. If it worked then, it could work again.

Except this is a different matter entirely.

This requires more than a refinement of existing technology. This is breaking all new ground in a manner that simply isn’t ready, and it calls for everything to be done in just six years.

The technology isn’t viable. No one knows when it will become viable. California figures they can just wave a magic wand and ignore all of that, simply declaring that a thing will happen.

What they don’t get is that this might actually deter the development of all-electric trains.

Companies know that the trains won’t be ready in time, but rather than them work on a new product that has a demand for it, they probably will figure it’s better to drag their feet (if necessary) on electric trains so that they don’t appear viable and make the legislature drop this nonsense than come close enough that it just gets kicked down the road.

Research and development costs money, after all, and so being able to produce and sell tried-and-true models just makes more sense financially. They might still work on the new train designs, but why bother if they know that the state will have to back down?

And yes, the state will have to back down.

It might take legislative action to do so, but as 2030 approaches and it’s clear these trains won’t be around for a while yet to come, lawmakers will have to adjust. They’ll either repeal the law—quietly, most likely—and then find some other stupidity to get involved in.

Then, when electric trains are viable, train companies will likely lobby for tax credits or something for using them, all without anyone even remembering how the state tried to mandate this.

The truth is that lawmakers in California live in an alternate reality where their whims become reality, and this is just another example of that “thinking” at work.