All I can say is it’s a good thing you have no influence on policy since it is clearly not something you understand.
The EU has been effectively regulating cleaner emissions from their vehicles for many years. This ain’t new.
By the way, “society” does not transition to cleaner vehicles. It takes regulatory and government actions to properly recognize the cost of externalities (e.g. carbon tax) and police big automakers (e.g. dieselgate). The free market left to its own devices will quite happily poison everyone in exchange for more profits
Anyways, now that I’m refreshed, I’ll tackle this.
Government intervention eventually leads to cronyism at worst, artificially higher prices at best (and sometimes both). If the goal of the EU is as noble as you say it is, they would never have permitted such ridiculous caveats, loopholes and corporate “outs” that hilariously exist for companies to game the system.
But then that’s by design, isn’t it? The role of government, when it comes to populist policy and regulation, is to firmly plant itself in the middle of transactions and make companies responsible to their whims, and not those of their customers. Lobbying, therefore, suddenly becomes an industry in and of itself as a protective measure against the policy, and a buffer between the threat of fines and the expectations of consumers. That’s why lobbying is such big business now, and the increasing need for lobbying is literally the government’s insurance policy against being left out of the supply-demand equation which is the simplest, purest and most efficient way of enacting change (think back to the early 2000’s spike in oil prices where consumers demanded ultra efficient vehicles, and the market provided them).
The proof of the silliness that so often tags along with populist policies is even playing out in our back yard, where the NDP’s 25% increase in the carbon tax is now up against rapidly rising gas prices. This has concerned the Premier to the point where he might introduce gas rebates. Tax meet rebate. D’oh!
Our society is over governed and over regulated. And what has that accomplished other than pad the coffers of government and its legions of dependents? Not a hell of a lot, when Fiat can call up Elon Musk and negotiate a deal to circumvent billions in emissions “fines.”
Ultimately the above will fall on deaf ears before someone who wants more government, depends on government and feels lost without government. Regulation, policy, rules and limits yield comfort and security for some, unnecessary overreach and restrictions for others.
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