The air is expected to get a little cleaner in Contra Costa County over the next two years.
That is thanks in part to a transportation program funded mostly by the California Energy Commission, which is giving $3.5 million to the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and MCE, a Bay Area clean energy nonprofit, for electric travel.
The electric travel program called Charge Up Contra Costa is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the county by more than 50,000 tons. The program will provide rebates for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, and promote electric vehicle car sharing, eBikes and workforce development.
“We want to make it easier and more convenient for our residents to own and operate an EV and save hundreds of dollars in fuel every year,” said John Gioia, MCE board director and supervisor in Contra Costa County, in a statement. “Expanding access to charging infrastructure is critical to increasing the sale and use of zero-emission EVs.”
According to MCE and the county transportation authority, drivers can save over $650 a year in fuel on average by driving an electric vehicle. MCE is offering workplaces and multifamily residences up $5,500 in rebate money for every installation of an electric vehicle charging station.
Commuters are six times more likely to drive an electric vehicle if their residence or workplace provides a charging option, according to MCE and the transportation authority.
Charge Up Contra Costa already offers EV car sharing in Richmond through Miocar. Charge Up Contra Costa also offers rebates for eBikes for qualified customers, and it is partnering with RichmondBuild and Future Build to develop the county’s clean energy workforce.
MCE and the transportation authority are providing $840,000 in matching funding.
First of all, that $3.5 million is your tax dollars.
Second, take a look at what it takes to make the EV batteries.
Third, take a look at what it takes to recycle those same batteries.
The CA grid is already obsolete, where is all that energy going to come from?
Green energy? The wind turbines are not recyclable and it takes a ton of oil to keep them working. Plus they kill birds.
Solar panels are not recyclable either.
All is not as it seems.
50,000 tons? Over what time period?
You can reason with air heads which is the kind of people running government now. They love to call themselves “woke” as they stumble around sleepwalking.
MCE = MARIN COUNTY Electric, the company that wrangled their way into slamming us out of PGE and into the pockets of Marin County. Pay more for procurement of “green” electric and then pay another fee to PGE to transmit it. NICE WORK if you can get it! and John Gioia got it! Double Dip on CCCo Board of Supv… AND MCE board chair? Talk about working a “contract!”
Is that even legal?????????????????????????????
Buy us all an electric car!
Hopefully the upcoming Arson Season won’t counteract the huge expectations of EV. Also, I saw a video of and EV owner pulling out of his trunk a gasoline powered generator, to re”fuel” . Interesting contradiction.
If we want a little cleaner air, perhaps we should discontinue bus service on lines where there are little to no passengers. I see certain bus lines at various times of the day with hardly any passengers. What a complete waste of tax payer money. Do the Supervisors ever do an assessment to see which lines are bleeding fares? I’m guessing most.
As I have mentioned before the Bay Area used to have an extensive trolley system. I suspect that GM just like in Los Angeles wanted to sell buses to replace the trolleys. So the rails got torn up and turned into hiking trails. Good luck reversing that.
There are no glasses for short shortsightedness.
The air around here is quite clean and clear, as I view it. When the air gets unclean, and unclear, is after disasters such as fires, caused, sometimes, by electricity (downed power lines, lightning strikes). And, giving MCE, called a Bay Area clean energy nonprofit (Marin Clean Energy), a few million dollars is that just another way of saying one government agency is “grifting” taxpayer money to another agency that identifies as non-profit.
Well Other Jeff;) Now that you mention it…..
Where does electricity come from?
If we all bought electric cars PG&E would fall apart. Democrats always put the cart in front of the horse. There is only so much oil in the ground and we should save it for the future generations, but first figure out how we will accomplish the task before doing it. Before selling electric cars with bad batteries and how to produce more electricity.
There have actually been recent scientific studies and calculations that claim there’s enough oil and natural gas under the United States to last another 300 years if used at the current rate.!!!(??) By that time folks will be whizzing around in “Flying Cars”. LOL
@Ricardoh….I’d take an EV if it was mated with a twin turbocharged V-6 and a prancing horse badge on the hood, preferably not red in color.
So Gioia is a board member of MCE and a county supervisor? Many cities went with MCE to get additional income from (supposedly) clean energy at higher rates than PG&E.
I sense a conflict of interest with Gioia.
Converting to electric cars and all electric houses (no more natural gas) is a nice goal, but maybe the powers to be should solve the shortage of electricity on hot days FIRST. I am rapidly losing faith in Calif government.
PG&E employees were given a gag order regarding MCE, they could tell customers that they had been enrolled into MCE by default……but that was all – the customer would have to opt out on their own.
What good is a rebate on installing a charging station if you cannot afford an electric vehicle to begin with? The idea that the biggest barrier holding people back from buying electric is the fee for charging station is ludicrous. Make a new electric car seat a family of 5 and cost less than $25K and throw in a charging station install for free. If you can do that, you would probably increase sales. As it stands now, EVs are expensive, in short supply, and yes dependent on PG&E crooks. Hell I would love to save money on gas but the reality is, you need to have $40K laying around for a decent EV (for a family) in order to save on gas so….not feeling real possible these days.
Otherwise, this program is a hollow gesture to help wealthier people who can already afford a Tesla and to give money to a bunch of BS agencies who fuss over this stuff.