We like Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee) and his normally foward-thinking attitude about technology. However, Neylon’s latest “green” proposal is a step backwards.
Neylon and his fellow Assembly Republicans are trying to outbid Gov. Tony Evers on creating charging stations for electric cars, a part of an “Earth Day” plan to have more government intervention in subsidizing renewable energy.
According to the Associated Press:
One bill would create a partnership with a private vendor to set up charging stations for electric vehicles along Wisconsin highways. The proposal would use $10 million from settlement dollars the state is set to receive from Volkswagen. Wisconsin is set to receive $67 million over the next decade from the car manufacturer to offset pollution.
Neylon told Wisconsin Public Radio that the charging stations would first be placed along I-94 to serve tourists from Illinois and Minnesota.
“It’ll be close to the freeway and it’ll give them a fast charge so they can get in, charge up and be out and on their way in less than a half hour,” Neylon told WPR.
Bizarrely, Neylon tried claiming this was the free market at work. “What this package of bills aim to do is provide market-based solutions to help encourage more renewable energy, more clean energy in Wisconsin,” Neylon told WPR.
There is nothing “market-based” about the plan, except the government intervening in the marketplace to further subsidize electric cars.
Ironically, the idea comes at the same time that many Assembly Republicans are also supportive of raising the gas tax because, they claim, more fuel-efficient cars and electric cars are not contributing enough to the transportation fund at the current level of fuel taxation.
So we’re going to take money from a lawsuit against Volkswagen because they lied about the fuel efficiency of their vehicles to subsidize a mode of transportation that is already heavily subsidized by the government, and legislators are going to falsely claim this is a market solution? Does Volkswagen get to sue Neylon to get their money back?
Here’s an idea: take the money from the Volkswagen lawsuit and use it to fix the roads the electric cars are using without paying for the upkeep. While we’re at it, let’s take a few dollars and get Neylon a copy of Free Markets for Dummies. The taxpayers will come out ahead.
