Rethugs Launch Statewide Campaign Against–Electric Cars

Led by climate denialists,  petroleum-funded ‘spokespersons’, and yes, elected Rethugs.

Here’s the story from Frank Burns, who must be elected to replace Mike Ramone in 2024:

I am writing because a shameful ruse is being used by the state Republican Party to try to stop adoption of electric vehicles in Delaware. They are promoting this to their base to try to gather a highly partisan crowd and rile them up to pressure the Governor and DNREC to not adopt the clean car 2 standards which call for a gradual change over to non internal combustion engine cars (not trucks).

They are using two “experts” one David Legates, PhD,  a human activity climate change denying scientist who is so much on the fringe that he was an embarrassment to the Trump White House. They moved him out of the White House (but did not kick him entirely out of the administration). Previous to that he was known for his thoroughly debunked theory that sunspot cycles are the cause of global warming. Although, as he readily points out, he was paid by the University of Delaware, not the oil companies, his research was supported by the American Petroleum Institute, Exon Mobile, and the Koch foundation (the Koch brothers are fossil fuel billionaires) among other oil interests.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Legates

The second “expert” is David Stevenson, of the Caesar Rodney Institute, “a nonprofit that has been backed by the conservative dark money groups Donors Capital Fund and the Donors Trust, along with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Energy Alliance, a fossil industry group founded by a former Enron executive. Stevenson, who spent years as an executive at DuPont, is also a policy adviser for the conservative and libertarian think tank the Heartland Institute and was a member of President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency transition team. He has publicly questioned established science on climate change.”  https://climatecrocks.com/2023/03/09/when-did-big-oil-decide-to-save-the-whales/

I went to the first of these “town halls” last night in Millsboro, as a scientist I was appalled by the twisting and misrepresentation of information that was put forth by the GOP “experts”.

Our Representative, Mike Ramone, who was already vice chair of the state GOP before becoming minority leader in the house, says he will be attending (hosting?) at least one of these sham events at the Mill Creek Fire Hall on Thursday March 30th.  

I encourage you to attend and speak up for you, your children and your grandchildren. It is not just about climate change. If you live near a busy road, have loved ones that do, or just care about the well being of others,  the vehicle exhaust from gas burning cars induces development of asthma, and more asthma attacks among those who already have it. Delaying electric vehicle adoption puts more money in the pockets of the oil industry at the cost of more Delawareans developing life long debilitating disease and for those who already have asthma, more frequent attacks.

The schedule of upcoming meetings in New Castle County is below. I especially encourage attendance at the Mill Creek Fire Hall on March 30 as that is when our representative will be in attendance. There is Q and A / audience participation time. That is our chance to be heard!

Thursday March 23, Brandywine Hundred Fire Hall in Bellefonte at 6:30 to 8:30 PM

Tuesday March 28, 160 Peoples Plaza, Glasgow 6:30 to 8:30 PM

Thursday March 30, Chambers Memorial Hall/ Mill Creek Fire Hall. 6:30 to 8:30 PM

If you want some talking points please email me  frank@changeforthe21st.org  and/or attend an informational webinar being put on by the Sierra Club on Monday March 27th at 6:30 PM  https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002O9swAAC

Thanks,

Frank

Allow me to add that I hope that any and all reasonable Brandywine Hundred residents show up at tomorrow night’s meeting at the Brandywine Hundred Fire Hall in Bellefonte.  We need to stomp a figurative mudhole in these bastards.