Ned Ludd's Latest Incarnations

This spring I bought an electric vehicle.  I bought it because I was tired of living in thrall of the terror of high and unpredictable gasoline prices, and because I was tired of financing (in my own small way) the geopolitical ambitions of thug nations with large oil reserves.  I bought it used from a rental agency instead of new because I am a cheapskate.  (And proud of it!)  I bought an EV that is not made by Tesla because I find Elon Musk to be emetic.  

My purchase of an EV was accompanied by a bit of research on the expansion of the EV market in the United States, as well as the progress of the rollout of clean energy both in the U.S. and worldwide.  In my research I discovered the unsurprising fact that many spokespersons from the white American evangelical/Protestant church are virulently opposed to the widespread adoption of both EV's and renewable energy.  I haven't looked too deeply at their reasons (some of which can be found here), although it wouldn't surprise me to hear that some pastors and other mouthpieces are probably claiming that EV's are yet another step to the emergence of a one-world government which will force us all to take the mark of ... the BEAST!  Pardon me while I roll my eyes at that one.  I do know that their chosen Presidential candidate is opposed to EV's.  But I'm not.  In fact, I like EV's.  I especially like mine, even though it's on the cheaper end of the spectrum.  

However, I have not yet paid for a home charging station.  This means that once every three or four weeks over the past five months I've been going to a local fast-charging station to top off my battery.  The charging station I've been using is part of a network of charging stations owned by an outfit called EVGo, a subsidiary of LS Power.  This past week I discovered that my favorite charging station was vandalized by people who cut the charging cords for all but one of the chargers.  On the same day I found out that the chargers had been vandalized, I discovered that this vandalism is part of a nationwide trend.  (See this and this for instance.)  Please note also that while much of the vandalism is motivated by a desire to make a quick buck off of stolen copper, the vandalism is also motivated in part by anger against the emergence of electric vehicle technology and the continued rollout of clean energy.  Evidently this has become a global phenomenon.  As a phenomenon it seems to me to share many characteristics of the anti-mask/anti-vax COVID denialism that was recently so prominent among the rank and file members of the Far Right in nations such as the United States.

It's telling that the police in my town have not been able to prevent the ongoing destruction or vandalizing of charging stations in my city.  Indeed it seems to me of late that the police are engaged in a passive-aggressive game in which they claim that because they can't so easily get away with committing unjust violence against those of us who do not have white skin, this of necessity means that they can't "do their jobs" in protecting our city from criminals who are caught red-handed or from motorists who drive like bats out of ...  I freely admit that maybe this last bit might just be my paranoid cynicism talking.  If you agree with my self-diagnosis, please "flap a napkin at me" as Barney Greenwald asked of his audience in the Caine Mutiny.  Or douse me with a bucket of cold water.  I promise I'll say "Thanks - I needed that!"  Meanwhile, I guess I'll be calling an electrician this week to get a home charging station installed.  Because, you see, I'm not going to give up my electric car.