There was significant reader reaction to a story we posted on Facebook about the B.C. government introducing a law requiring vehicles to have zero emissions by the year 2040.
Who is paying for the new cars? Will we have to give up our older gas-fueled vehicles? Where will the electricity come from? How will the demand for recharging stations be addressed? How will B.C.’s climate affect them? Will the market even have vehicles suitable for larger families by then?
There were many different questions and scenarios thrown out for debate and it was also clear quite a few people that had questions and opinions hadn’t actually read the article on which they were commenting.
SEE RELATED: B.C. introduces law to require cars, trucks sold by 2040 be zero emission
Regardless, opinions varied on the logistics and viability of the plan and the idea was met relatively equally with both positivity and negativity but there was a common thread uniting the two sides: nobody knows what tomorrow holds.
“I’m surprised they did not mandate that by 2040 half the population has to move to Mars to save the planet,” Scott Simmons wrote. “It’s presumptuous that someone today can dictate what someone in 21 years has to do. Like we know best. Glad that 20 years ago they did not dictate that everyone had to have a car phone in their car by 2019, for safety reasons.”
“As others have said it’s kinda useless because it will be too easy for another provincial government to repeal it…,” wrote Sunny Tee. “Secondly 2040? 20 years from now? Pretty easy target to make now saying as how anyone over 55 is unlikely to be alive never mind driving… Meaning almost certainly every politician putting in on this will be dead….”
Lyn Dallamore wondered about how charging stations would work but admitted 20 years is a long way off and who knows what will happen in that time.
“None of us know what tomorrow holds. Technology is evolving,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about it because I likely won’t be here in 20 years and if I am I’ll buy an electric car.”
It may not be soon, but it’ll happen, wrote Harold Knutsahk.
“When cars came out no one thought they would catch on, just ‘toys for rich people’ and they would never replace horses as fuel stations were non-existent and cars had very limited range at that time (sound familiar?). 30 years later they were everywhere, 30 years after that the entire world was covered with paved roads and fuel stations. And that was a MUCH larger undertaking than the move to electric. Every major paradigm shift is met with resistance and doubt but if the idea is sound then standing in the way of it its progress just gets you run over, and history will look back on you and laugh at how silly and backwards we all used to be.”
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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