This is still 15yrs away. Here... have a kleenex, and go fill up your tank
Sounds more like they're just pandering to the current administration than really wanting to make a difference.
I'd agree, for the most part. Especially since GM was on-board with the previous administration's loosening of the FE standards, etc., and they were one of the few that were (most of the other 'majors' were aligning with California's standards).
There's benefit to being 'first'; GM has determined that they can do it (and provided themselves a hedge, if they can't). But they win the PR battle -- for yesterday, at least.
Not sure what that future looks like for personal vehicles but it'll be fun finding out.
It takes about 20yrs (estimated) to replace the country's fleet. There'll still be vehicle parts available, of a fashion, provided you've got something =< 10yrs old when the last ICE vehicle rolls off the line. But for anything we're driving 'today' -- maybe not so much. The truck owners are fortunate, because parts availability is based on 'yearly sold', and nothing sells as much in NA as trucks. So we can still find parts even today for our 360's and 800's (even farther back, really). That won't be the case in the future. There's a lot going on, IMO, both 'publicly' and 'behind the scenes', to speed up the transition where possible.
Based on what I see on this board, we're part of the 'resistance'
What I worry about as time goes on is fuel availability, and at 'what price'. As more and more ppl transition to electric, less hydrocarbon-based fuels are needed, meaning less product in the distro channels, and higher prices for the product that is available (with scarcity as a main price driver). For me, my camping days better be over by then, because I'm not going to make the spend for a Tesla Cybertruck (or whatever) for what I use a (full-size) truck for.
Middle-aged mechanics / shops will have a tough transition. So will the young guys of today, unless they can effectively run two types of shop, for both ICE and electric-based vehicles. And the latter are heading toward proprietary 'dealer-only' maintenance / repair, OTA software updates, etc.
As far as environment... I hate to say this, as it's really defeatist... but it's really too late to avoid the worst effects. The amount of change we've seen so far is just the start; scientists are acknowledging that the Polar regions are melting faster than even they anticipated, etc., etc. What gets released into the atmosphere today, affects things 10-50 yrs out. So even if the entire world went to a pre-industrial economy 'tomorrow', the effects of everything up through yesterday are 'baked in' (no pun intended).
The
only 'good' news I've seen at all recently is that the global CO concentrations went down slightly this last year -- and it's attributed to reduced economic / manufacturing output due to the pandemic. Read into that what you will.
What I'm waiting for is the public / tacit acknowledgement from the scientific community that, 'yeah, no matter what, the planet & everything on it... is absolutely f*cked'. That hasn't happened yet because people need some form of hope for the future, for their families. By the time it comes, it'll pretty much be patently obvious, anyway. At that point, does everyone say "F*ck it, we're all going to die, anyway" ? Not *everyone* will die... but we are already underway with the sixth mass extinction, worldwide. Humans will not become 'extinct' (as of right now) -- but there's going to be a lot fewer of us around, chasing fewer and fewer available resources. Most of us reading this won't see the worst of it. Although if you have kids / grands, they will see at least the beginning of the end.
As Moose said... not trying to make things political. You'll note that I'm not opining on what's 'right' or 'wrong' about all of this. Sorry if this is alarming. And you don't have to agree with me. If you do make a retort, please keep it civil -- that's all I ask. I trigger easily... LMAO.