Liberal Commentator Rages Over Cost of California's Electric Car Shift

Liberal commentator Ana Kasparian recently went viral after raging over the cost of a shift to electric cars and other utilities in California.

In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Kasparian, who is the co-host and producer of The Young Turks, a progressive-leaning news show, spoke about California's plan to switch from gas-powered vehicles to electric-powered vehicles and mentioned that it carries "financial burdens."

"The way that it happens is, I know that in California, at least with the phasing out of gas-powered cars, and they'll probably do the same thing with gas stoves, is they just ban the sale of any new gas-powered cars or any new gas stoves," Kasparian said in the video, which captured a portion of a members-only episode of The Young Turks show. "Don't minimize the financial burdens associated with these things. Okay. Because like I am literally freaking...about the charging station thing....We're not getting any help from the...government on that."

The comments by Kasparian came after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan that by 2035, all cars sold in the state will need to be completely electric. The plan was announced by Newsom in September 2020, and in January 2022, he detailed a "historic $10 billion zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) package."

"The future is electric, and we're making it easier and cheaper than ever before to go electric. That means more assistance to help folks buy clean cars and more charging stations in more communities throughout the state," Newsom said in January 2022. "California is eliminating our dependence on oil and providing a blueprint for the entire world on how to aggressively fight the climate crisis while growing the state's clean energy economy."

During the airing of The Young Turks show, Kasparian was questioned by fellow host Cenk Uygur about tax credits for switching to electric cars and other utilities in California.

"No, there's been no talk of tax credits. I haven't seen anything about tax credits. I should look into it," Kasparian said. "Maybe there are tax credits, but I don't give a f*** about tax credits because you have to shell out cash. OK. I wanna do something in response to climate change. That is not my issue here. My issue is how, like we're forced to make all these changes that are a financial burden, a giant inconvenience with like little to no help."

In January 2023, Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, spoke to Newsweek about the proposed change by Newsom and estimated that the average price for an electric vehicle in California is about $66,000, which he said was not affordable for most residents in the state.

"We're not going to make it to the transition of 100 percent zero emission by 2035 if we can't figure out how to make these vehicles more affordable," Maas said earlier this year.

Newsweek reached out to Kasparian's manager via email for comment.