The Delaware Republican Party is holding “town hall” meetings on the proposed electric vehicle mandate.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is considering adopting the California proposal, which limits sales of new vehicles to electrics and plug-in hybrids by 2035. Hybrids would account for as much as 20% of sales.
The party has focused on the issue after surveys, including one from the Delaware Business Now newsletter, showed that more than seven in 10 Delawareans oppose the mandate. The hybrid option was not listed in the surveys.
TownSquare Live, which focuses on Republican Party positions, reported that David Stevenson and David Legates would be on hand for the events to be held in all three counties, along with a DNREC representative. Stevenson has been active in legal efforts to stop wind power projects on the East Coast and served on the transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency when President Trump took office. Legates, a former state climatologist and UD faculty member, has been a climate change skeptic. He served at NOAA during the Trump administration.
Democrats, who hold all statewide offices and have a sizable majority in the General Assembly, have remained largely silent. Legislators have typically shunned vehicle-related issues like increasing the gasoline tax or vehicle fees, fearing blowback from constituents.
Click here for the list of town halls and a signup sheet. Attendees are advised to register in advance.
Click on the headline below for DBN’s take on the mandate.
