Nathan LewisJan 25, 2023
david roberts

I find this so frustrating. America's ignorance & neglect toward public transit long predate the push for EVs, so how on earth could the push for EVs be *responsible* for it?

RT @[email protected]

The push for zero-emission cars has frustrated public transportation advocates, who say that the US needs to focus on greener alternatives to driving https://trib.al/gOKhAka

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/CityLab/status/1618326552655044610

Jan 25, 2023 at 7:19pmWeb
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
I've seen this basic dynamic so many times over the years: advocates blaming other advocates with a different focus for their lack of success. You see nuke advocates blaming renewables advocates (& vice versa). Carbon tax advocates blaming RPS advocates. Etc. Etc.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
I've struggled to understand why & I've come around to a pretty simple explanation: you engage with people who care about what you think. There are legions out there who don't support transit *or* EVs, who don't give a shit at all, but they won't argue with you.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
It's the people who are pushing for similar goals in different ways who are most likely to give a damn about your opinion. They *care* if you criticize them. They engage. So you get these ludicrous factional wars -- carbon tax vs. cap&dividend! -- that ignore the larger context.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
So I say yet again: whatever it is you're advocating or fighting for, it is almost certain that other people fighting for the same things a different way are NOT your main obstacle. They just seem salient to you because of their proximity in ideological space.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
Whatever progress you seek, in whatever area, your main obstacle is almost certainly the vast body of people who don't give a shit at all, who know very little about any of it, who are fine with the status quo, who know nothing about your talmudic online intra-factional disputes.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
Anyhoo: quite obviously we need BOTH a shift to electric vehicles AND reductions in car-dependent land use. Neither is happening big/fast enough, not because they're stealing focus from one another, but because reducing transportation emissions *in general* is neglected.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
And more generally, the biggest barrier to solving climate change is not some set of climate advocates or other Doing It Wrong, it's the vast bulk of people who don't care much at all & politicians happy to serve carbon-intensive incumbents.
Show threaddavid robertsJan 25, 2023
And finally, my deepest apologies for the subject-verb agreement problems in the first tweet. I have no excuse.
Show threadAlex ChaffeeJan 25, 2023
@drvolts nah, I think “America’s ignorance and neglect” qualifies as a singular subject, like “Hall and Oates [is a great band]” or “waste, fraud, and abuse [is not as big a problem as conservatives think]” 😛
Show threadJackyBJan 25, 2023

@drvolts I do think the full automation of EVs which we really are not far away from will lead to a dramatic reduction in car ownership. Why own a car when you can just dial one up when you need it?

Think of all those cars parked up and sitting on driveways. Automation would mean cars working 24/7 as they would not need a driver.

It is the UBER model.

Show threadRachael LJan 25, 2023
@drvolts There is however the political dynamic that the promise of EVs as a solution lets politicians off the hook for the the reductions in car-dependency part which is politically hard (both because the car industry doesn't want to sell fewer / smaller cars and people fear change and don't want their places to change). That is, it's treated as THE solution by politicians. That's why I get frustrated at EV focus. Though I would never blame EVs for lack of transit investment.
Show threadSoozcatJan 25, 2023
@drvolts A friend of mine has a great phrase for this tendency. She calls it "the vanity of small differences."
Show threadSue is Writing Solarpunk 🌞🌱Jan 25, 2023
@drvolts this is so spot on and so frustrating
Show thread⚡️ axeshun ⚡️  Jan 25, 2023
@drvolts always enjoy your takes, but regardless of which issues you support or reject, I believe wholeheartedly there are mainly 2 common protagonists; the insanely wealthy, and religious bigots.
Banding together to vehemently admonish both of these group's agendas and exposing them, is the necessary bond that should bring us all together.
Show threadAlex ChaffeeJan 25, 2023

@drvolts
with respect for your expertise— aren’t some of these factional fights about non-ludicrous, practical decisions between strategies that either will or won’t actually work

like, let’s say we agree that cap-n-trade might be a bit less efficient than a carbon tax but both are worth trying, but carbon offsets are unproven magic beans and anyone arguing for them is either an industry shill or a useful idiot… in that case wouldn’t internecine conflict be useful?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe

Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows

Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating

The Guardian
Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Jan 25, 2023
@drvolts widespread zero-sum thinking, or mass NIMBYism?
Show threadEric JenningsJan 25, 2023
@drvolts I think it’s less that it’s responsible for it in the first place, but a lot of the advocates are totally anti personal cars and hate that EVs get the government subsidies when they believe we should discourage personal cars and funnel that money and attention into public transportation. They see it as a zero-sum fight over the shared right of way space.
Show threadmmalcJan 25, 2023

@drvolts

It’s akin to religious sects, as lampooned by Emo Philips in the best god joke ever:

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/sep/29/comedy.religion

The best God joke ever - and it's mine!

Emo Philips: This morning I received thrilling news: a joke I wrote more than 20 years ago has been voted the funniest religious joke of all time!

the Guardian
Show threadSteven BodzinJan 25, 2023
@drvolts in general that's right, but there are also electric-car advocates who have done things like getting NGOs to promise not to spend money promoting bikes, or (in the case of EMonlusk) intentionally try to underbid light rail systems with vaporware hyperloops. So there is a real conflict, but you're right that it's not THE conflict.
Show threadRJDJan 25, 2023

@drvolts

sigh.

I dont think anyone advocating EVs would also advocate against more and better public transport.

EVs are a solution to a problem people wont give u rather than a change to a better system but its a realists approach

This just screams anti EV bandwagoning