Wyoming wants to phase out new EV sales by 2035

It's Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

While other US states (and the rest of the world) inch towards goals of banning gasoline-powered cars, Wyoming is going in the opposite direction. The state’s legislature is considering a resolution that calls for a phase-out of new electric vehicle sales by 2035. Introduced on Friday, Senate Joint Resolution 4 has support from members of the state’s House of Representatives and Senate. The resolution says the state would need to build “massive amounts of new power generation” to “sustain the misadventure of electric vehicles.” Its goal is to phase out the sales of EVs entirely by 2035. Yes, EVs.

In the proposal, a group of lawmakers led by Senator Jim Anderson says Wyoming’s “proud and valued” oil and gas industry has created “countless” jobs and contributed revenue to the state. They add that a lack of charging infrastructure in Wyoming would make the widespread use of EVs “impracticable.” The legislation may partially be a political stunt, but Wyoming produced 85.43 million barrels of oil in 2021 – it’s a crucial part of the state’s economy. But, Wyoming’s Carbon County also has one of the largest wind farms in the US.

– Mat Smith

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University of Geneva

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