The U.S. car fleet accounts for a mere 1.0% of global energy demand (5% x 19%), declining to 0.8% by 2050. So even if the U.S. shifts 100% to electric-powered cars, the maximum climate impact in 2050 is a meaningless 0.2% (22% x 0.8%) reduction in global Co2 emissions from the current electric grid, up to a maximum of 0.5% assuming solar, wind, and hydro can, implausibly, power 60% of electric demand.

In other words, there is no factual basis to claim that the government mandate to switch to electric cars will have any material impact on global Co2 emissions.

This is not a debatable point — it is easily verified, it is correct under any view of climate science, and it remains true even if solar and wind magically grow sixfold over the next 25 years, which is highly unlikely given the need to build a new transmission network, estimated at more than 200,000 miles of wires crisscrossing the country, and devise totally unknown, unproven, and likely impossible to achieve large-scale, economic battery storage.

[I have no beef with EVs per se. If people want to buy them, and feel as though an EV suits their needs better than an internal-combustion vehicle, the market will adapt to meet that demand. My problem is that governments are warping markets, first with subsidies and now with regulatory force, to shove Americans into EVs when they clearly don’t suit most personal-vehicle needs, especially outside of urban areas. Besides, hybrids make a lot more sense than EVs even in densely populated areas. EVs aren’t going to solve the purported ‘crisis’ that government uses to justify their market distortions anyway. — Ed]