....of the increasing ideological divide between Urban & Rural America.

Urban America: We have more population, therefore we can tell you what to do.

Rural America: We grow all the food. Go ahead.

We can import food - try living in Wyoming in winter with your power turned off.

And try growing food without John Deere updates or imported fertiliser

Wyoming has abundant reserves of coal. The state currently gets over 73% of its electrical power from this energy source. So just how would that power be shut off?

As for John Deere....gosh if the rural states don't need to supply food for the urban states, I guess they won't need nearly as much for themselves. No big deal to fire up the the old tractor. And there will be plenty of fertilizer available if they stop mono-crops and treat the soil properly.

Wyoming might have a lot of coal, but how much active mining is there in the state? They would need to import all the heavy equipment needed for mining, since they don't make D11 dozers and big rock trucks.

They may think they are self sufficient in their fantasies, but they are only self sufficient if civilization falls apart and everyone left is living a Mad Max existence.

Treating the soil properly sounds like something a libtard would do. You'd better watch your step, city boy.

Welcome to the New Georgia, where we all live at the pleasure of Atlanta...

Urban America: "So we should cancel those federal farm subsidy checks then?"

Rural America: "Now let's not get hasty."

Wyoming makes 0.41% of the US's agricultural output, according to one site I found. I'm not sure a Wyoming boycott of the rest of the US would be all that notable. I also ran across the statistic that the average Wyoming farm nets $22,000 annually, which...ouch. I guess I don't blame them for being bitter.

Wyoming is 52nd in population... even the District of Columbia (AKA "Washington DC") has more people.

("But the US only has 50 states?" Yes, Puerto Rico is 31st and DC is 50th, and they're both "territories")

They just need to sit back down and shut up.

>They just need to sit back down and shut up.

Thank you for validating my point on the ideological divide.

They have two senators, precisely so that they don't have to sit back down and shut up.

On the other hand, that feels slightly disproportionate for just over half a million people. I guess it's none of my business though, since I'm not a US-ian. Y'all do you.

Tension between densely-populated urban areas and sparsely-populated rural areas has existed ever since America became independent. The census bureau says that rural areas cover 97% of our land area, but include less than 20% of the population. That's exactly why each state gets two senators, no matter the population -- to help balance the dominance of the urban areas in the House of Representatives. Most laws require the approval of both chambers, so neither side can force its will on the other. It gets messy sometimes, but for the most part it has worked as intended.

All states get two senators because the Constitution would not have been ratified by the existing states otherwise. If you were creating a legislature today, would Wyoming have two Senators? No, and it wouldn't even be a state.

But at time the difference between rural and city was alot lot less and there were only 13 states to deal with.

But now you have Wyoming having the same power in the Senate as California, despite the fact theres 1/2 a million people in Wyoming and 50 million in Cali.....

SJ4 was never intended as anything more than a symbolic gesture that bill co-sponsor Republican senator Brian Boner described as "tongue-in-cheek."

"I'm interested in making sure that the solutions that some folks want to the so-called climate crisis are actually practical in real life," Boner told the Cowboy State Daily .

"Boner! Heh-heheheh-heh! Sometimes, the labelling on the tin is accurate.

Aside from the fact that the state is one of the top 10 US crude oil producers, which factors heavily into the resolution's criticisms, SJ4 does make some realistic arguments against the expansion of EVs in Wyoming, like the necessity of importing minerals used in EV batteries.

Or not. According to the [1]Wyoming Mining Association , "Northeast Wyoming is home to one of the highest grade rare earths deposits in North America, currently under development . [emphasis added]". Maybe...just maybe... if Republicons would pull their collective heads out of their collective lower alimentary canals and stop tilting at culture war windmills, they might realize the potential for making some serious monnaay from the way things are headed.

And what Republican doesn't want more money?

[1] https://www.wyomingmining.org/minerals/rare-earths/#:~:text=Northeast%20Wyoming%20is%20home%20to,them%20essential%20to%20new%20technologies.

Was just a typo, the bill should have been "pollute OR pay"

Everyone has to dump 15T of CO2 a year or pay a fine. Similarly you have to dump 10kg of oil, and 0.1kg of Mercury into the nearest water source

How much does does it cost to dump worn out windmill blades and solar panels ?

Asking for a f(r)iend.

Presumably this question is no '...more than a symbolic gesture that [is strictly] "tongue-in-cheek"' .

I mean seriously? Are you seriously trying to equate the disposal/reprocessing of wind turbine blades with the 'disposal' of CO2 and all the industrial paraphernalia used in producing, processing and transporting the stuff that produces said CO2.

Nah, it's just 'tongue in cheek' isn't it—you're havin' a laugh, aren't you? ;-)

And don't forget that the wind turbine probably has been in use for over 20 years...

Producing lots of pollution free leccy for all that time.

Oh, and giving everyone Cancer according to Donald J Trump

whereas.... Coal is clean power (again according to Donald J Trump)

The MAGA/GQP crowd are really plumbing new depths with all this crap.

Oh, and it is all fully documented in great detail on Hunter Biden's Laptop...

How exactly do you wear out a solar panel?

Not that I agree with Wyoming's idea in any form, but the whole "we must go electric" waffle is selecting a solution instead of addressing the whole picture.

If the diktat was "go carbon neutral or carbon negative", yes, THAT would work because that also incorporates other developments such as e-fuel, CO2 recovery and power generation but no, let's first convert the bongs we get from all the mining outfits who see their profits almost double by selectively promoting one future.

Wrong. Just wrong.

CO2 recovery from internal combustion cars would be a pretty impressive trick. You might have trouble when you run out of hose.

Horses and carriages will make Wyoming great again!

Living in an Amish paradise!

Winter in Wyoming can be a death sentence for the best of those who live there. With temperatures -30 below zero Fahrenheit -34.44 Celsius and winds that can easily reach Hurricane force winds. Causing snow to blow so heavily that you can not see the road. Couple that with two lane roads and big semi rigs much larger that you have in Europe.

This is no environment for an electrical Vehicle. To venture out in this weather is as deadly to a responder in and emergency as it is for the people in an Electrical vehicle broken down or unable to start due to the batteries unable to hold a charge.

Even Gas and Diesel powered vehicles require block heaters in the Winter. Batterries require warmers as well. Diesel is lighter in winter to help reduce the chance of gelling.

You can enter a highway between Rawlins and Rock Springs only to have the road close behind you due to bad weather. you could be stuck out there with no one around you for a day or two. Enough for everyone in an EV to freeze to death,

So if you wish to make a political issue of this and insist on a EV in Wyoming. Make sure your life insurance is caught up.

It is no environment to ride a bicycle in, but Wyoming is not floating bills that ban bicycles.

Not an EV problem, but ENTIRELY a planning and preparedness problem. It barely even gets cold there, what are you whining about? Plus, the typical altitude of Wyoming is over a mile above sea level making the cold more tolerable than it would be at or near sea level.

Did you know that european semi trucks often have more powerful engines than north american models? They're not narrower either, so what do you mean by "bigger semi rigs" ? You think they don't have B trains in EU?

If it's REALLY cold, then it doesn't matter if you have a combustion engine, because the exhaust moisture will condense and freeze in the exhaust system, plug up the exhaust and stall the engine. Been there, done that.

What you really want are plenty of waterproof matches, and some tea candles. When it's -46C and the wind is 110+KPH then you will feel the cold.

Diesels are more likely to not start in very cold weather than gas engines. (I own both, I am well aware of the grief of a cold diesel) So should you ban diesels so that no one can possibly get stranded because their fuel filter gelled up in the middle of nowhere?

"Light diesel"? I doubt there is a significant difference in weight between winter and summer diesel. In the US, summer diesel is #2 kerosene and winter diesel is a mix of #1 and #2 kerosene. #1 has no paraffins in it. Paraffins 'cloud' at a higher temperate, so reducing them reduces the risk of your fuel system getting blocked in cold weather. But the paraffins add BTUs to the fuel, so they are important for fuel economy.

People need to take some personal responsibility. If the weather isn't suitable for the vehicle that you own, maybe you should stay home. Doesn't matter whether you're driving a gas F150 or an electric F150.

And note, highway closures due to bad weather aren't unique to Wyoming.

There are real concerns here but freezing to death because the road closed is not really one. Tests have shown a stranded EV can keep its heater going a long time. Pretty close to as long as a gasoline/diesel vehicle can keep idling to heat its interior. And it won't asphyxiate you in the process, as unfortunately happened to some stranded motorists this winter.

This legislation whether serious or not was clearly never going to get anywhere, after all eventually all major car manufacturers will switch to making EVs. And let be honest Wyoming's entire population is less than a medium sized city so there is hardly enough of a market for major manufactures to keep producing ICE vehicles just for that state alone.

Although there will probably continue to be smaller manufacturers making ICE vehicles for niche uses for some time to come, you can bet that eventually these will get pretty expensive since the market to sell them in will be getting smaller year on year as more people switch to EVs.

I blame the Jetsons for this policy against EV. They saw it as kids and decided it was socialism.

Because of the commenter above with a quip about horse and carriage in Wyoming, I immediately thought Amish. As I'd also been mucking about with ChatGPT, I thought, let's have some fun!

Q: how many amish are there?

A: As of 2021, it is estimated that there are around 300,000 Amish people living in the United States and Canada. This number may vary slightly due to changes in population and migration patterns.

Q: what is the population of wyoming?

As of 2021, the population of Wyoming is approximately 578,759 according to the United States Census Bureau.

Q: if all amish moved to wyoming, how would it shift the political landscape?

A: If all Amish people were to move to Wyoming, it would likely have a significant impact on the state's political landscape. The Amish tend to have conservative values and do not participate in the political process, so it would likely shift the political balance towards more conservative candidates and policies. Additionally, the influx of such a large population would likely put strain on the state's infrastructure and resources, potentially leading to changes in state budget priorities. However, it's important to note that it's a highly unlikely scenario and the Amish people have a strong sense of community and are known to not move frequently.

...

[MORE conservative? MORE?! What would that even look like?]

Q: how could wyoming become even more conservative than it already is?

A: Wyoming is already considered one of the most conservative states in the United States, with a strong Republican presence in state politics. However, if all Amish people were to move there, it could become even more conservative in the following ways:

Voter turnout: The Amish do not participate in the political process, so this could further decrease voter turnout, which would likely benefit more conservative candidates and policies.

Political representation: The influx of a large population with conservative values could lead to more conservative candidates running for office and potentially winning elections.

Policy changes: With a more conservative majority in the state legislature and in Congress, there could be a push for more conservative policies such as lower taxes, fewer regulations, and stronger support for traditional values.

Demographic changes: The sudden increase in population could lead to demographic changes and could affect the state's culture, which would be reflected in policies and regulations.

It's important to note that this is a highly unlikely scenario, and that the Amish people have a strong sense of community and are known to not move frequently.

...

There's your ChatGPT non-answer. Who knows what it "thinks" that would like. The Amish Socialist Worker's Party?

Apologies for turning this into almost more of a "how useless ChatGPT still is in many/most ways" detour.

I'm beginning to think that people are impressed by ChatGPT because scientists and politicians have trained them that wishy-washy non-answers correlate with power and intelligence. ;)