Expanding Government through a Dangerous Dependency on China

Hybrids are doing well, and EVs are doing badly. That wasn’t meant to happen – campaigns to ban sales of new hybrids in the EU after 2035. The combustion engine ban threatens to birth a grave crisis for Europe. Andre Stuttaford in NR warns of the growing signs of the disaster that may be facing European carmakers as a result of the coerced transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

In Italy, the government has been sounding the alarm. Italy’s industry minister, Adolfo Urso, describes the EU’s ban on sales of new traditional cars after 2035 as posing a “grave crisis” for its auto sector. He wants the ban (and, it can be assumed, the forced ratcheting down of conventional sales that precedes it) to be reviewed and revised.

From The Financial Times:

“The road map of the Green Deal, as it was designed, has already demonstrated its contradictions with the collapse of the European electric vehicle market and the grave crisis of European carmakers,” Urso said in an interview. “The data speaks for itself. It’s already clear the road map . . . is not sustainable.”…

Italy’s biggest carmaker, Stellantis, has suspended until mid-October car production at its historic Turin plant. Why is that? Weak demand for the electric version of its Fiat 500, which is priced at €30,000, compared with €17,700 for the hybrid version.

Volkswagen, Germany’s largest carmaker, recently warned workers it would no longer honor its decades-old job guarantee, continues Mr. Stuttaford.  “An estimated 165,000 people work in Italy’s automotive industry, and about 780,000 in Germany.”

Minister Urso is ringing the alarm about the pace of this transition. It would leave no time for the EU’s manufacturers to create their own domestic supply chains, thus creating a dangerous dependency on China.

The risk is we pass from dependence on Russian fossil fuels to dependence on critical raw materials coming from, produced by, or processed in, China, warns Mr. Urso.

Reckless and Pointless 

What Urso didn’t mention is what most government leaders dare not speak: the EV transition will have next to no effect on climate. Unless Italy moves in a hurry, within a few months. Minister Urso’s concern is Brussels, “Everyone is aware that if we don’t move in a hurry, within a few months, that in Brussels, Strasbourg and other European capitals, we’ll find not only farmers with their tractors, but also workers,” Urso said.

“We’re starting to feel this atmosphere across Europe.”

Even labor unions, notes Mr. Sttrattaford in NRO, are beginning to awaken to the scale of the disaster that lies ahead.

Not Elites Problem 

Mr Urso suggests the EU spend a lot of money to smooth the transition’s path. From where that money comes remains a mystery. 

Magical Thinking

Kamala Harris must be a little nervous about swing voters still unsure of her progressive economic plans. Suddenly, here it is: Kamala’s 82-page document, “New Way Forward,” released this very week.

Among Kamala Harris’s campaign promises: “more green-energy largesse.”  Harris warns the WSJ wants to “build on efforts” in the IRA to “lower energy costs” and ensure “that we never again have to rely on foreign oil”—i.e., more subsidies for solar panels and EVs on top of the $1.2 trillion already in the IRA pipeline.

All of this and more adds up to a disguised bid to exceed even Mr. Biden’s historic expansion of government. The feds now control some 24% of GDP, and this would grow the share. If you loved Bidenomics, (Kamala Harris) is your candidate.