Now the Climateers Want Your Tires

Washington state pols want to ban wheels that are safest on the road

WSJ editorial. 

"Progressives spent last year torturing home cooks by threatening gas stoves and dishwashers in pursuit of energy efficiency. Now the climate brigade is going after drivers. A new bill in Washington state would give regulators the ability to ban tires that create a drag on fuel efficiency.

The proposal would give the state Department of Commerce authority to prevent the sale of replacement tires that the state says have too much “rolling resistance,” which decreases the fuel efficiency of the vehicles. Rolling resistance depends largely on the weight and depth of a tire tread, the grippy thick part that keeps you from sliding off the road in a storm.

Washington state isn’t Arizona, and even Seattle progressives need their Outbacks to get safely to the Cascades. The deeper the tread, the stronger and heavier the tire is. This means the car gets fewer miles per gallon, but it also means drivers will have a better grip on the road. The bill would cover all replacement tires for cars and light trucks up to 10,000 pounds.

The proposed legislation says the new standards “may not adversely affect tire safety or tire longevity as demonstrated by the independent testing of wet grip or traction.” That’s a good caveat, but if the new standards aren’t going to reduce safety and grippiness, why does the next section create an exemption for snow tires? The biggest difference between snow tires and regular tires is the depth and pattern of the tread.

The bill says adopting the new standards “could result in an approximate cumulative reduction of 600,000,000 gallons of gasoline and 1,500 gigawatt hours of electricity” between 2026 to 2035. That’s assuming the drivers buy into the program and don’t take a Sunday road trip to Idaho or Oregon to buy their tires from dealers beyond Washington state lines.

Washington has a rare triple whammy here in a bill that would limit consumer options, make tires more expensive and make drivers less safe. It underscores how progressives are using climate as an excuse to intervene in nearly every corner of the U.S. economy."