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Life Cycle Emissions: EVs vs. Combustion Engine Vehicles (elements.visualcapitalist.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/science@kbin.social
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We look at carbon emissions of electric, hybrid, and combustion engine vehicles through an analysis of their life cycle emissions.

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[–] 11 points 3 years ago (6 children)

It's still a net improvement, even with the incorrect assumption that everyone's electricity is equally filthy. Can we as a species please stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good for like five minutes?

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    We have programs where I live that enable you to have 100% of your electricity use covered by renewable sources without needing to install solar on your home or build a wind turbine. The fossil fuel plants may ultimately be where the exact energy being used is generated currently, but the added costs enable further investment in renewable infrastructure and the individual use is fully offset by renewable generation elsewhere.

    I encourage anyone that's environmentally conscious but doesn't think they have an path to accessing green energy sources to research similar programs with their energy provider.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (4 children)

    I never said we need to be perfect, you're dismissing the argument to save your feelings.

    I said we need to drive less. It's not hard, it's not perfect, and it's the centre of most European planning efforts to mitigate climate change.

    Electric cars are and industry solution to an industry problem, they're not a reasonable response to climate change

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    It is in fact very, very hard, when your entire country is planned around the automobile. You're talking about building infrastructure that doesn't exist, and replanning every single town.

    When I lived in Chicago, I drove once a week, for groceries, because I lived in a food desert. Otherwise I rode my bicycle (yes, in the winter too). That's not even remotely practical now, because I live in a very rural area.

    Again: don't let perfect be the enemy of better.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Yes, build the damn infrastructure, now. It's not about perfect it's about working toward a minimum viable output and electric cars miss that mark.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I don't think you have any idea how difficult that is, particularly since the US isn't a totalitarian dictatorship. There are a lot of factors in play for the average person, and you need to convince that person that they should change everything about their life and pay far more in taxes, for something that a significant percentage don't believe in or care about. You can't win with a fact-based argument; you need to successfully appeal to emotion. And so far, climate activists are doing a really, really bad job at that. Getting people to make incremental change is more likely to be effective, even if make reform is needed.

    There's also a prisoner's dilemma here; if we bankrupt the country building this infrastructure, and China and India don't, then not only is climate change not significantly affected, but we also lose economically.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    No country in the EU is a totalitarian dictatorship either we've worked out busses and footpaths, it's not hard, your cities and counties still have planning offices, public servants decide these things. It makes little difference to the cost or scope of projects to design things so people can use them.

    I think you're grossly underestimating how expensive dragging your heels on climate is going to be for everyone. Changing infrastructure now is cheap in comparison. Your economy is going to be fucked by climate change regardless of what china does, there is no prisoners dilemma.

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