As gas and oil prices rise and the climate worsens, electric vehicles have been touted as the be-all, end-all solution to the crises. However, oil prices and climate change and their effects are way too important to be left in the hands of multi-billion-dollar corporations and the free market. Electric vehicles will not save us; the oil industry must be nationalized.
A nationalized oil industry entails a majority, or full government ownership of all oil companies, abolishing private ownership of oil resources.
To have the oil industry in the hands of the government would eliminate the price-gouging practices of Big Oil, minimizing their short-term profit motives for investors.
However, some may argue that the oil industry must not be nationalized, viewing nationalization as form of radical leftism. This misconception is not without precedent; as state ownership is a subset of public ownership, a key foundation of socialist economies. However, nationalism itself is not a revolutionary practice.
According to jacobin.com, “Nationalization has been used for decades in the United States for a variety of purposes, from dealing with financial collapse to intervening in labor-management disputes to saving jobs.”
America has utilized nationalization in it’s past; today has no reason to be any different.
According to nytimes.com, electric cars make up less than 1% of the roughly 252 million cars on the road, and that number is projected to be only 13% in 2035. Having a fully electric fleet of cars on the road would be beneficial, however this goal is unrealistic.
Although electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than gas-powered vehicles, this does not imply the companies, and their CEOs, can truly be considered “eco-friendly.”
According to theguardian.com, Elon Musk and his ownership of Tesla are responsible for producing over 79,000 tons of carbon emissions annually, whereas the typical American family produces less than 50 tons.
If Musk is really as environmentally conscious as he is made out to be, efforts would be made to cut his carbon emissions. It seems Musk has no intention to save the environment; he uses Tesla as a virtue signal and to greenwash for a profit.
Multi-billion-dollar corporations and their shareholders have no right to hold the state of America’s economy, welfare and environment in their hands. American’s livelihoods must come first, not investor profits.
