(reprinted from the Marin Independent Journal, 4/15/2026)….
Last month, many Californians organized protests at freeway overpasses. But if activists want to make an even bolder statement, they should get off the overpass and into an electric car.
These days, driving an electric vehicle (EV) counts more than ever; it is the most potent tool we have to protect 50 years of environmental policy, a way to defy shortsighted federal mandates and — most importantly — a way to improve our national security.
As an educator who has followed the ups and downs of the electric vehicle since California’s first EV mandate in the 1990s, I have been trying to describe the risks of not adopting electric vehicles for a long time.
Our state’s unique geography has allowed California regulators to set emission standards that exceed the federal policy set by the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act. But the Trump administration has fired shot after shot to undermine decades of progress by the California’s Air Resources Board and the Energy Commission. On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, executive orders 14154 and 14156 tore up gasoline emission targets and EV mandates. Trump then declared a national energy emergency that prioritized fossil fuels and revoked funds designated for the charging-station network. After that, he cancelled the $7,500 tax credit given to those who purchase an EV.
But Trump’s war on EVs and the “national energy emergency” are not just about the shock of paying more than $6 for a gallon of gas. It’s about the jolt of sending our children overseas to defend the international flow of oil. Since 1970, the U.S. military has been involved in four Middle East conflicts, plus other surprise operations like the one in Venezuela earlier this year.
For decades, these interventions were a tragic inevitability of the combustion engine. They will continue, if we continue to depend solely on gasoline vehicles.
California burns roughly 1.4 million barrels of oil every single day, most of which arrives by tanker. If California were its own country, we would be the ninth-largest auto market on Earth. Our state holds the economic levers. But does that mean you can personally afford an EV ? As of now, there are several reasons you can.
First, new EVs are approaching price parity with gasoline cars because battery packs are getting better range but are less expensive to manufacture. Over their lifetime, they will save you thousands on fuel and maintenance. But there’s more. 2026 marks the beginning of what’s being called “The Great EV Return.” At least 300,000 EVs will be returned to dealers as they end their two- and three-year leases acquired with the $7,500 tax credit. The vehicles are technically owned by their lenders, like GM Financial, which will be anxious to off-load them. It’s a buying bonanza for first-time, EV buyers. The expected flood of returns will add to the 1.53 million electric vehicles already on the road in California, since 90% of drivers who purchase an EV continue to buy another when they trade in.
If you are a first-time buyer, perhaps you are worried that your electricity bill will spike. Utilities offer time-of-use rates, and discounts for lower-income households. Meanwhile, California’s solar surplus and battery infrastructure means that filling your car with electrons remains significantly cheaper than prices at the gas pump. When you switch to an EV, you climb off the gas-price roller coaster and extricate your personal stake from the oil-producers.
Washington listens to money and markets. It’s worth noting that several members of Congress own car dealerships; they understand the trends from the automotive sales floor far better than the language of protest signs. So when EVs outsell gasoline cars, they listen. While imported oil will continue to be an essential product for many other industries, it doesn’t have to be the driver for our daily transportation.
So, if you want to protest effectively, don’t just stand on a bridge. Change what you drive. The most enduring way to end petroleum wars is to stop needing the petroleum.