EV Subsidies: California Runs Out Of Juice
Ever so environmentally conscious California offered its citizen a rebate up to $5,000 if they buy an electric car. That and the $7,500 federal tax credit adds up to a good chunk of money. 1978 vehicles later, the state is out of funds. No more. According to the California Air Resources Board, “the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project may run out by July due to high consumer demand.” May run out? It already did.
If you go to this page, you will see that California’s clean kitty of $11.1 million is already empty. People are already on a waiting list.
The California Air Resources Board has requested more money, between $12 million and $17 million. It hopes the money will be available in fall. Then, however, the rebate amount should be halved to $2,500 says the ARB. Also, “even with the anticipated increased number of rebates available, this funding is limited and may not be sufficient to meet consumer demand next year, so consumers are encouraged to apply early.”
You don’t need to wait until new fund become available. Hand in your application, and you will land on the waiting list. Then pray that the ARB will receive the funding it requested.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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It's bad enough that we subsidize poor people's poor life choices. Why do wee need to subsidize rich people's need to green wash their personal image?
California is like a guy who knows he's bankrupt, but decides to run up the credit cards in the run-up to the actual bankruptcy filing.
BREAKING NEWS!: Washington Post charges White House and Department of Energy with corruption and bribe-taking in funding (and not funding) green energy projects. Details at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-focus-on-visiting-clean-tech-companies-raises-questions/2011/06/24/AGSFu9kH_story.html?nav=emailpage Also see updates to background of this story at: http://corruptiondoe.weebly.com This is why there has not been a single mainstream-market American all-electric car built since the program started in 2008. Write the media and demand an FBI and Dept. of Justice public investigation & hearing. The White House and certain politicians have stopped the law enforcement agencies from investigating this. Tell them you know what is up and to get the investigation going!
So the electricity to run these EV's. What is it's source? Solar? Wind? Wishful thinking? More than likely it's carbon based combustion heating water to produce steam. So much for us "combustionistas"!