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By Tim Hunt
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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...
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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September.
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Time to revise rebates for electric cars
Uploaded: Apr 9, 2015
State Senator Ted Gaines (R-Rocklin) has a great idea.
He proposes limiting the state rebates on electric vehicles to cars priced at $40,000 or less.
Currently, most of the state rebate cash is going to people who earn twice the national average. Most of these vehicles are manufactured by Telsa Motors in the old General Motors/Toyota plant in Fremont. The base price on the Telsa S had started at $71,000 and is going up as the company stops producing the lowest priced S sedan.
Surveys show that 77 percent of electric car purchasers in California earn more than $100,000 per year. It's well past time to eliminate that giveaway of tax money.
It's particularly egregious because the electric cars pay no gasoline taxes and the roads statewide are crumpling because of a lack of maintenance. The hefty cash payments amount to $2,500 from the state plus a $7,500 tax credit from the feds. That's $10k in the pocket of a person who can afford at $100k car.
It's time for change.
If you want to weigh in on the Bay Area air board's plans to wipe out wood-burning fireplaces and stoves, you can comment in Livermore on tonight from 6-8 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. It's one of nine meetings the board's staffers are holding around the Bay Area.
Local Journalism.
What is it worth to you?
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