The title of the KOMO News article is “Opinions vary on Inslee’s plans to stop selling gas-powered cars by 2030.”

Washington State probably has the second-highest adoption of electric cars in America, behind California.  Here are a couple of quotes from Washington residents about the Dictator’s plan to eliminate gas-powered cars from Washington roads.  The first one is the Dictator’s view.  Note the bolded phrase (by me).

Electric cars are sold as more earth-friendly and pushed by the government with tax incentives. California has even banned the sale of new gas-powered cars starting in 2035.

Gov. Jay Inslee said Washington will do the same, tweeting “Washington set in law a goal for all new car sales to be zero emission by 2030 and we’re ready to adopt California’s (regulations) by end of this year.”

Here’s a quote from a resident.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Mike Taylor, who supports banning gas cars. “It’s definitely a Band-Aid for the overall solution of the personal automobile.”

It’s not clear if state lawmakers will have a say in enacting Inslee’s goal.

“Transportation is the lowest-hanging fruit,” Taylor said. “Not everybody needs a personal automobile and the people that do should probably have an electric.”

Now, don’t you really want your neighbor to be determining whether you need a personal automobile?  Are you anxious for the State to declare that you don’t need a personal automobile?  And it’s not clear if the elected representatives of the people will have a say in this new tyrannical policy?  When did the State of Washington become a Dictatorship?

Here are some other viewpoints.

“People are interested in the environment and helping the environment,” said Patsy Brown, who added she is considering buying a new car. “We will get there, but to make it law and forcing people is not the right move.”

I don’t know about you, but that opinion sounds limp-wrested to me.  My bet is that Ms. Brown wouldn’t take much persuading to make her new car electric.

Even the supposedly “free-market” Manhattan Institute spokesman does not come right out and describe the ban as tyranny.

Mark Mills, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a think tank that says it supports free markets, said having enough charging stations will be just one hurdle.

“Six-fold increase in the time per fill up,” Mills said. “Generally speaking, you need five to six times more fill-up stations.”

Mills also said our power grid isn’t ready for a complete switch from fossil fuels to electricity.

“The electric grid would have to be roughly twice the size that anybody is planning to build it,” Mills said. “Just roughly speaking.”

Per the article, auto dealers support the move, even though it will dramatically change their dealerships’ operations.  The vast majority of profit made by auto dealers is in their service departments.  Supposedly, electric cars will need less service-no service, no profits, no employees needed.  How many well-paying blue-collar jobs will be eliminated by the move to electric cars?

And so-called automotive “experts” say that the move to electric cars will work.

“I think that the market will take care of itself,” Voelk said. “I think once the supply chain starts growing and people start finding the minerals, they need that there will be plenty resources for these batteries.”

Ha!  We have all seen stories of companies wanting to mine copper, lithium, and cobalt for batteries, and having their mines tied up in court for years, even decades, by the Environmental Wackos.  I think it’s pretty funny, actually-enviros fighting each other!  Which environmental goal will win out?  Grab your popcorn.

And finally, the Manhattan Institute guy gets the last word.

When 2035 arrives, he thinks the bans on new gas cars will be abandoned.

“It won’t happen,” Mills said. “They will reverse these bans because the economic, social political pressure to allow people to buy a new car that’s any kind of car they can afford is going to be overwhelming.”

Knowing the Dictator and the willing henchmen of Western Washington, I would not bet on that mandate being repealed here.  Inslee is already contemplating a run for an unprecedented fourth term in “office,” and he had a good chance of being re-elected.  I hope not to be in this state when it takes effect in 2030, exactly eight years from now.