Mastodawn

Bread and Circuses May 2, 2023

It can be argued that electric vehicles are an improvement when replacing ICE vehicles.

But that misses a much bigger point — which is that the very best car is *not* an electric car. The very best car is no car at all!

Building electric cars requires massive use of fossil fuels, including petrochemicals for the manufacture of plastics. In addition, mining of lithium for batteries as well as trawling for other minerals in the deep ocean is environmentally disastrous, killing biodiversity while polluting our water, soil, and air.

LITHIUM EXTRACTION — https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/02/01/south-america-s-lithium-fields-reveal-the-dark-side-of-our-electric-future

DEEP-SEA MINING — https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses/109814016209990908

The kind of “Green Growth” championed by capitalists and politicians, which features more electric cars, a bit of solar, and a few wind farms — along with continued use of fossil fuels — is not a good answer. It does not solve any of our problems, and in fact only makes them worse.

Say NO to more cars, of any kind. Push instead for active transportation and for improved public transit.

Continued economic growth is unsustainable. Period. The only logical choice for us and for the biosphere is de-growth.

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Degrowth #WarOnCars #BanCars

South America's 'lithium fields' reveal the dark side of electric cars

Demand for lithium-ion batteries is unprecedented - but is mining the chemical harmful to the environment?

euronews

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Bread and Circuses May 3, 2023

I like this quote:

“The problem is that electric cars are popular with politicians precisely because they provide an excuse to avoid doing harder things, like rebuilding our cities, or changing the habits of lifetimes. Persuading people to switch from their old gasoline car to a shiny Tesla is much easier than persuading them that they can live without a car. Hence governments are pushing electric cars, often with incentives that make no sense.” - Daniel Knowles, author of Carmageddon

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Atomic Fox

@breadandcircuses

I disagree, largely because one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions on a large scale does not affect lifestyles in any way at all ― namely, switching to nuclear electric generation.

Switching to battery-electric cars is an easy sell because it makes the individual carbuyer feel good about himself, true. But the primary reason it's popular with politicians is that it implies NO change in patterns of land use and development. Landlords and real-estate developers have a truly massive amount of influence in government.

(For a great comparison of nuclear to other decarbonization strategies, take a look at https://isgermanyclean.today/ )

Is Germany cleaner than France today?

On February 13 Germany had a carbon intensity in generation of 390 gCO2eq/kWh compared to France's 57 gCO2eq/kWh. Germany has been cleaner than France for 0 hours this year.