With many wondering every day how they will even get through the month due to the ever-growing amount of taxes and more expensive food and services, the Golob government has invented another way to take more money out of your pockets. Electric bikes will be subsidised. And all of this is being done in the name of the ‘green transition’ and to reduce energy dependency; in light of this, the government encourages the use of – read this next part carefully – electric bicycles.
“Why should those who buy ordinary bicycles subsidise others who buy electric bicycles?” wondered the intellectual Žiga Turk on social media. The question followed news that the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy is planning to launch a public tender for electric bicycles this year, as reported by Slovenian Forbes.
The Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy, headed by Bojan Kumer, told us that they are planning to launch a public tender for electric bicycles this year. Subsidies are expected to be distributed through the Borzen company, the Ministry said, but it is not yet known how much money will be available. The money will be drawn from the unspent funds of the Climate Change Fund, where 45 million euros is still available for zero-emission vehicles this year.
Subsidies will be given under the guise of the green transition and energy independence. But what is an electric bicycle? It works with a built-in electric motor that helps move the wheels. This motor is usually powered by a battery charged via the electricity grid. The absurdity and contradictory nature of the subsidy was also illustrated by economist Matej Lahovnik: “They use eco-taxes to fill the eco-fund and make electricity more expensive, to subsidise the purchase of electric bicycles from the eco-fund to increase electricity consumption and reduce calorie consumption. This is our idiotic circular economy.”
He also added that “if the government wanted us to decide what to do with our money by ourselves, it would be lowering, not raising the taxes, but they are raising levies to stupidly subsidise electric bicycles, and people are wondering why electricity and other energy products are expensive.”
The subsidy will again benefit those in the “centre” the most
The bulk of the fund, which is part of the national budget, is earmarked for investments that the government says will serve people’s needs for a “low-carbon” lifestyle. “Funding is also provided for investments in active mobility infrastructure (cycling or walking) that will improve the quality of existing infrastructure, enabling people to make more sustainable commuting choices and encouraging higher levels of active mobility,” the website says. But one of the Slovenian realities that Golob’s government has been pushing for is centralisation, which means that the subsidy will (once again) come in handy for those who have jobs close to home. What good can the electric bicycle do for people who commute to work from more remote places?
The Climate Fund is managed by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy, which has earmarked just over 850 million euros over the next three years with the intention to decarbonise the buildings and transport sectors and provide up to 270 million euros in climate change adaptation funding. All the money is therefore earmarked for the eco-insanity that the left in Brussels is mostly promoting. This was one of the reasons for the jubilation after the departure of Frans Timmermans, who was a persistent supporter of this insanity.
The current government is only good at this
The current government seems to be good at only two things – collecting money and limiting the citizens. In order to “justify” their actions and to consolidate their “legitimacy”, they do this mostly in the name of caring for the “future of the planet”. From telling us what we can and cannot eat, how we should spend our free time, how we should keep warm, and which means of transport we should use. All in the name of the green transition and reducing energy dependence – phrases that are being served up by all the left and mainstream media. They want to persuade everyone to volunteer a euro or two more out of their own pockets.
T. B.
