US Representative Thomas Massie has co-sponsored bills to abolish the Federal Reserve, slash taxes and government spending, and make it legal to carry guns in school zones (as reported by the Wall Street Journal). He also drives a Tesla Model S.

Massie, who holds an engineering degree from MIT, leans libertarian, and has often voted against GOP priorities, according to the WSJ. “I’d say I’m a true conservative,” he told TheBlaze. “Liberals have got a monopoly on protecting the environment, or all the cool technology, and I don’t think we should cede that territory.”

Much of the right-wing media would not agree. Kentucky conservative web site BluegrassBulletin recently attacked what it called “Massie Hypocrisy,” saying, “Here’s a guy who rails against government bailouts but may be spending $100,000 or more to buy a ‘green energy’ car, made in California by a company which is failing after getting half a billion dollars in stimulus from Obama.” (That would be Tesla, whose stock set an all-time high over $137 last week.)

Charged has long believed that both liberals and conservatives should support EVs, if for different reasons. While many of the anti-EV crowd cite coal-generated electricity as a reason to hate ‘em, Massie proudly displays a license plate that reads, “Friends of Kentucky Coal.”                                  

Photo of Rep. Massie by Gage Skidmore (flickr)
Sources: Wall Street Journal, TheBlaze, BluegrassBulletin