New research says building electric vehicles leaves a bigger carbon footprint than making gas-powered cars, though EVs make up the difference in the long run
I think the solution is just to provide the proper context that large personal vehicles as the primary mode of transportation in urban areas are harmful and that better alternatives exist. It’s OK to examine the relative harms in relation to one another as long as you are up front with the fact that both are harmful and can realistically only play a moderate role in a decarbonized economy. But this article and much of the discourse on this topic fails to present that full picture. This leaves people with the false impression that we can just leave everything the same and replace gas cars with electric ones and the problem is solved.
I think the solution is just to provide the proper context that large personal vehicles as the primary mode of transportation in urban areas are harmful and that better alternatives exist. It’s OK to examine the relative harms in relation to one another as long as you are up front with the fact that both are harmful and can realistically only play a moderate role in a decarbonized economy. But this article and much of the discourse on this topic fails to present that full picture. This leaves people with the false impression that we can just leave everything the same and replace gas cars with electric ones and the problem is solved.