EU votes to “effectively” ban sales of gas vehicles after 2035

The same year Michigan will quit coal, the European Union will quit the internal combustion engine

By James David Dickson | February 17, 2023

In 2036, it will be a different world.

By then Michigan will have retired its final coal plant and will be more reliant on renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. DTE Energy, supplier to 40% of Michigan homes and businesses, believes it will run on 51% renewables by 2036.

Related reading: Coal plants were 4 of Michigan’s 10 top energy producers in 2021

Meanwhile, across the pond, the sale of gas vehicles will be a thing of the past by 2036, if the European Parliament has its way.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

European Union lawmakers approved a law that will effectively ban the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered cars in the bloc from 2035, one of the most aggressive moves yet by a major economy to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. ...

The law is set to require new cars and vans to have significantly lower carbon emissions by 2030 and zero emissions by 2035, a requirement that industry groups say is expected to result in an end to the sale of new vehicles that use traditional combustion engines, and accelerate the shift to EVs.

In Michigan, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy believes that Michigan needs charging infrastructure for 2 million EVs by 2030. That would be quite a climb from the 17,500 EVs registered in Michigan in 2021.

The road to 2 million will be paved with taxpayer funds. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer seeks $113 million for new EV charging stations ($65 million) and sales and use tax exemptions for buyers ($48 million over two years). That’s on top of $7,500 federal subsidies for certain types of electric vehicles.

“Auto-industry executives expect the global push to ban new sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles to accelerate by 2030,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

President Biden in 2021 signed an executive order to require that 50% of vehicles sold in America be “zero emission” by 2030, and he doubled down on that sentiment this week.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

MEDC asks $5,700 for nondisclosure agreements

Government-by-NDA has been business as usual in Michigan. But the Mackinac Center insists on transparency

By James David Dickson | February 17, 2023

The Mackinac Center earlier this month filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, asking for any nondisclosure agreements on file since Jan. 1, 2018. What came back was a bill for nearly $5,700.

Government by secrecy, confidentiality and nondisclosure has become a trend in Michigan in recent years.

When Robert Gordon left his post as director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in January 2021, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent him off with a $155,000-plus payout from the state, and a nondisclosure agreement. Critics referred to the payout as “hush money.”

Related reading: The Detroit News: Ex-Michigan health director got payout in confidentiality deal

When taxpayer dollars are spent granting corporate welfare, state officials — including the very lawmakers who allegedly sign off on the deals — are made to sign nondisclosure agreements.

How many nondisclosure agreements exist on corporate welfare deals? The MEDC’s preliminary response to the FOIA request offers a window, but it leaves many questions unanswered.

The MEDC refers to 5,572 “sides” of paper that need to be copied. There could be as many as 5,572 single pages, or as few as 2,786 double-sided pages. How many agreements does that account for? We don’t know.

Transparency is a Mackinac Center concern. When Gordon left the health department, Whitmer wasn’t paying him with her own funds; she was spending the people’s money. When companies receive massive checks from the state under the banner of economic development, that’s the people’s money the politicians are spending.

Who has signed nondisclosure agreements, when, and why? Whitmer? Lawmakers? MEDC staff? Who, specifically? What did they attest to? What does it look like, on paper, when your representative in Lansing has sworn secrecy about how the state spends your money? What are the means employed to enforce the code of silence?

Those are the answers CapCon looks to provide in the weeks and months to come.

The Mackinac Center will file a new, adjusted request. And we will report back what we find.