DAINES: “THAT’S NOT REALLY HOW IT WORKS, MR. PRESIDENT.”

Press Conference

“Well, let me join the choir. Joe Biden’s border is a mess, and I agree with my colleagues that every Senate Democrat needs to join Republicans in holding the Administration accountable when the impeachment articles come over from the House. Joe Biden is also working overtime to force a very radical green agenda into virtually every area of our lives. First of all, let me say this: I don’t have a problem with electric vehicles. Amazing technology. My problem is when the government forces us through mandates to have to drive them. I enjoy my Ford F150. It runs on recycled dinosaurs. I enjoy that.

First, Biden announced $1 billion to build EV chargers at the southern border while completely ignoring the actual crisis at the border, and that’s nearly 10 million illegal migrants coming across. Then, when you thought it couldn’t get worse, Biden’s EPA issued a rule limiting tailpipe emissions, forcing the majority of cars and light-duty trucks produced to be EVs by 2032. That’s not how it really works, Mr. President. As it is, our car dealers can barely get EVs off their lots. Go talk to your Ford dealer right now. The Ford Lightnings were supposed to be the greatest thing ever to hit the market. They are massively discounting Ford Lightning pickups right now because they can’t sell them. Why is that? I can tell you Montanans don’t want to be forced to drive an EV. They just don’t make sense with our Montana way of life. We’ve got a lot of windshield time in Montana. That means we drive a lot, long distances. We have freezing temperatures. We have, now they call it, ‘range anxiety.’ This is a new term with the green hallucination projected by Joe Biden and the Democrats.

And next, the administration issued a rule with forcing semitrucks to become electric vehicles. A diesel-powered semi’s range can be up to about 2,000 miles, an EV semi about 330 miles. Diesels can fill up in about 20 minutes at the pump, EV semi at least three hours to charge. And by the way, the grid capacity is having a hard time supporting it. Now they’re shutting down baseload power in states like Montana. Diesel semis can cost up to $150,000, the average EV semi rings in around $300,000.

Let’s be clear, truckers can’t afford this. It increases costs for consumers. It makes the loads less safe. Now, I challenge anybody here: find me a trucker who wants to do a long haul from Glendive, Montana, to Butte, Montana in an electric semi in January, and, to quote George Strait, ‘I’ll find you some oceanfront property in Arizona.’ It’s time for Biden and the Democrats to abandon their climate fantasy and to get real.”

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