this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Asklemmy

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I've seen a lot of posts here on Lemmy, specifically in the "fuck cars" communities as to how Electric Vehicles do pretty much nothing for the Climate, but I continue to see Climate activists everywhere try pushing so, so hard for Electric Vehicles.

Are they actually beneficial to the planet other than limiting exhaust, or is that it? or maybe exhaust is a way bigger problem?

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[โ€“] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

But it's also really dumb to go the other way and focus so much on EVs, isn't it? Why replace our cars with slightly-different cars, build a whole new charging infrastructure for them, and then phase them out, say, another 40-50 years down the line? It's not just tailpipe CO~2~ emissions at issue, it's poor land-use causing a major housing crisis, it's the cost of cars skyrocketing out of financial reach of many people, it's habitat destruction causing populations of wild animals to crash and many to go extinct, it's particulate matter from tires causing human maladies like dementia and cardiovascular disease, it's an epidemic of social isolation and loneliness, it's traffic violence killing over a million people a year, it's sedentary lifestyles leading to diabetes and cardiovascular problems, it's CO~2~ emissions from manufacturing cars and building the infrastructure that they need, it's the large-scale use of fresh water for manufacturing, it's the loss of autonomy for children, it's municipalities going broke trying to maintain car-centric infrastructure, it's the burden on people in poverty needing to buy and maintain a car, etc. etc.

I mean, the ultimate solution is to have cities and towns that don't force us to get in the car to drive everywhere, for every little thing, every day. There's little meaningful difference between transitioning cities away from ICE cars and transitioning cities away from electric cars. We could just start now, and maybe Millennials might be able to see some benefit before they retire. EVs are fine as a stop-gap measure while we work on that, but I see them being treated as the main event.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

I don't think we are focusing completely on EVs, they're just a very hot topic for some reason. There's plenty of high speed rail projects, pedestrianisation and other non car related innovations coming through

[โ€“] [email protected] -3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

So you want to change the entirety of human society in a few years. Nice plan there genius, have you ever met another human? We need more palpable incremental steps or else a proposal like yours just gets completely shut down.

[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have met plenty of people who can phrase a counter-argument without sounding like an asshole.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Your right, not sure why I was so pissy. Sorry mang.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Hey, thanks for the follow-up. I figured it was just the result of a bad day. Hope all is well!

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

the entirety of human society

Lol wtf? How long do you think car culture has been around for?

It's not "the entirety of human society". It's American, Canadian, Australian society since the 1950s and '60s.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Also most parts of Europe actually but it's not quite as bad.