Connecticut Plan to Ban Gasoline Cars Faces Resistance

A plan by the Connecticut government to institute a ban on internal combustion engines modeled on California’s legislation appears to be dead on arrival, with a vote that was scheduled for today getting canceled.

The reason for the cancelation, according to media reports, was the significant chance of the ICE car ban bill being voted down by the majority of Connecticut legislators from the Regulation Review Committee.

By withdrawing the bill, Governor Ned Lamont preserved the possibility for a second chance, to be proposed to the state’s full General Assembly in 2024, local CT Mirror reported, explaining that had the bill been voted by the Regulation Committee now, it would have been killed without a chance for revival.

“I think that it's a wise move on the governor's part in response to the public outrage about the potential that this policy would have on consumer cost across the board; whether it's being required to buy electric vehicles that are more expensive, the grid's inability to supply enough power and the risk of blackouts, the cost of having to install charging infrastructure throughout the state, which would increase electric rates,” said the president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, the trade body for fuel wholesalers and retailers.

California, the state perhaps most active in its low-carbon efforts, earlier this year asked the Environmental Protection Agency to greenlight its plan to ban the sales of internal combustion engine cars from 2035. There has been opposition to this move in Congress but this has not prevented other states from drafting their own ICE car ban bills.

As well as Connecticut, these states include Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. New Jersey was the latest addition to the list. The state’s legislators are scheduled to vote on the ban in mid-December.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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