“The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles.” – Pete Buttigieg, US Secretary of Transportation in testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in November.

“We’re pleased that the Biden administration is taking this essential step to prevent the extinction of an irreplaceable piece of Nevada’s special biodiversity.” – Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin regional director for the Center for Biological Diversity to The Associated Press in December.

You may be asking yourself what those two quotes have in common. The first is clearly designed to promote the purchase and use of electric vehicles, both stated goals of the current administration. Biden, along with liberal states, have been pushing for the more widespread use of electric vehicles while lamenting the danger of gas vehicles.

The second quote is referencing Nevada’s Dixie Valley toad which was, in an emergency action, recently added to the list of endangered species. According to environmentalists, the only place the toad is known to exist on earth is in Dixie Valley, east of Reno. Unfortunately, that happens to be the same place a planned geothermal plant was being build. The plant would have reduced the burden of electricity on western states and is now stalled because of the toad’s addition to the listing.

So, on the one hand, we have the Biden administration pushing for the widespread use of electric vehicles and environmental conservation while they, at the same time, actively prohibit the building of power facilities that would serve those same electric vehicles. If you recall, shortly after California passed a mandate that all sales of light-duty passenger vehicles in the state must be electric or hybrid by 2035, the state experienced a huge power outage. Power for electric vehicles is already an issue.

At the same hearing Buttigieg was quoted at above, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, responded to him by saying, “It would take four times as much electricity to charge the average household’s cars as the average household uses on air conditioning.” Clearly power is an important factor in the reliability and growth of electric vehicles.

The conflict between the two goals is clear, especially when you look at the fact that the addition of this toad to the endangered species list is only the latest in a long line of endangered species preventing the growth and development of needed infrastructure in Nevada. You may recall the sage grouse which the federal government used to stall development in Nevada.

CALL TO ACTION: We simply can’t have this both ways. We need power to fuel electric vehicles, power needs power plants and power plants need space. We need to stop looking at the small picture when it comes to big picture items. You want environmental reform? Well, the unfortunate truth is that will require some sacrifices.