California Outdoes Itself By Mandating Electric Trains That Do Not Exist

Anytime you assume Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California state government has achieved peak regulatory insanity, rest assured you will soon find your assumption was mistaken. The latest example of the effort by state Democrats to force the Golden State into full energy collapse comes from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which recently applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver under the Clean Air Act that would enable it to implement new regulations forcing the electrification of freight trains.

Just one problem: The electric trains CARB wishes force into action beginning in 2030 do not currently exist.

Oh.

CARB needs EPA’s waiver due to the fact that the federal agency must approve state regulations related to the Clean Air Act that vary materially from federal regulations. Under its own standards, it is up to EPA to decide whether “there is inadequate lead time to permit the development of the necessary technology giving appropriate consideration to the cost of compliance within that time.”  To be clear, the technology for electric freight locomotives currently exists: The problem is there is no viable market for them due to exorbitant costs involved, and the prototypes that have been produced are not envisioned to run alone, but rather in tandem with diesel locomotives to ensure reliability.

So, if you’re a regulator at Gavin Newsom’s CARB, the solution becomes obvious: Mandate the artificial creation of the market by making the cost of non-compliance even higher. It’s a form of evil genius that is spreading across the country’s entire energy system.