Switzerland — a land of alpine scenery, milk chocolate, yodeling, and green irony. Officials there have floated the idea of banning electric vehicles for so-called “non-essential” use during the winter.
It is part of their emergency plan to mitigate potential energy shortages. Should blackouts occur, proposed measures include pulling the plug on a plethora of other bureaucratically determined non-essentials — from gaming consoles and streaming services to sporting events and leisure activities. Store business hours, as well as indoor heating systems, could be restricted. Even Christmas lights are on the chopping block.
Government officials published the draft ordinance last year to prepare the country for potential energy shortages through the winter. Swiss news outlet The Local explained that the plan involves three ever-tightening tiers ranging from cautionary to emergency to crisis, and pundits note its alarming likeness to Covid lockdowns.
The draft does not specify penalties, but Blick quoted a Federal Department of Economic Affairs official who explained that violations during shortages could result in fines or imprisonment.
None of the draft measures were implemented last year, but that is credited to unusually mild winter weather conditions. Therefore, the government remains on alert this year, causing SwissInfo to ask, “Will Switzerland face an energy crunch this winter?”
It answers ambiguously by quoting the Swiss Federal Office of Energy: “Energy markets remain volatile, and ‘prices are reacting strongly to new uncertainties.'”
Green energy consultant Marc Muller is optimistic, however, bragging to SwissInfo of Switzerland’s rapid transition from reliance on Russian natural gas to imports of liquefied natural gas from the United States and Qatar.
Nevermind that the shift has spiked gas prices by 25 percent, that “Switzerland is totally dependent on imports” for gas, or that “nearly two-thirds of annual gas consumption goes to heating buildings during the winter” months of October through March, according to the Federal Council. That Swiss agency announced last month a “voluntary gas savings target of 15%” for this winter, in keeping with the European Union’s efforts to avoid shortages.
Of course, gas is not Switzerland’s only hope. According to the Daily Mail, “the country gets around 60 percent of its energy from hydroelectric,” and “about a third of its power comes from nuclear.” But the government has “committed to phasing out” nuclear, and its hydro plants are “generating less energy than usual” this year due to “the exceptionally dry summer in Europe” which has “caused lakes and rivers to run low.” Winter freezes will only exacerbate that situation. The small remainder of Switzerland’s energy portfolio is made up of hydrocarbons, solar, and wind, which won’t save the country from its disquieting reliance on imports.
Energy expert David Blackmon calls these “crisis points caused by insane energy policies” that are deliberate steps toward the “end plan of the climate alarm movement.” He writes on his Energy Transition Absurdities blog:
Heavy hardships and deprivations on common people are not glitches in this plan, but the ultimate goals of it. These deprivations are in fact features of the overall plan, and always have been. The fact that the Swiss government includes the use of EVs on its list of restricted items shows its full awareness of the massive burden EV charging places on the country’s already under-powered grid.
To add to the irony, only eight years ago NASA’s top eco-alarmist, James Hansen, recommended Switzerland as the safest place to be on Earth if you want to survive climate change. He warned The Atlantic in 2015 that “huge swaths of coastal cities will be submerged by ever-more-acidic oceans,” so people in the landlocked, mountainous Alps would have better odds.
As long as they don’t mind freezing to death.
