No Exit from September 7, 2022
I feel like a lot of these are still relevant even if primary travel is switched to trains or whatever.
Except for that the environmental cost per head goes way down compared to cars.
It’ll still fall into the problem the comic fell into. No solution to assisted travel is perfect. Even horseback has a negative effect since they can trample humans and animals, and oft traveled paths would still be plant free.
Point being, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
Point being, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
What are you calling good? If you’re worried about horses trampling animals (incl. human), that would sound like letting perfect be the enemy of good.
Cycling is nearly perfect by comparison and I’m happy to make EVs and public transport the enemy of cycling.
Not sure I get the humour? Is it “don’t fix anything unless you can fix everything?”
It’s meant to underline that cars in general aren’t that healthy for the the environments we live in and our people, even if we switch completely to electric. I think it’s to combat the notion that if everyone just buys an electric car, we’ll all be fine.
It’s that electric cars are a figleaf. They don’t really fix anything if we keep seeing them as our (almost) exclusive mode of transport.
They aren’t a fig leaf, they’re a bandaid. They fix the emissions problem which is currently the most pressing issue. They aren’t a perfect solution but they are one that is applicable now and fighting against them is just playing directly into the fossil fuel industries hand. Fighting for better public transport is great but until that happens electric vehicles are harm reduction.
They don’t fix the emissions issue at all, at best they reduce it. But the real problem of these semi-solutions is that they give people the feeling that it’s OK just buy more cars again because they believe (or maybe want to believe) “it fixes the emissions issue”. In my neighborhood most families have 2 if not 3 cars in front of their house. If I look on the street, by far most cars have a single occupant, they’re 90% empty space. Electric or not that is not sustainable.
I agree public transport won’t solve everything (not even in the long term) but if we’re going to have personal motorized transport it’s going to have to come down in scale significantly. No more giant trucks. No more multiple SUVs for a single family. Your second car could easily be a two seat city car (and yes, electric of course) or even better one of those little ‘fake’ cars with the scooter size engine. Hell get a scooter or a bike even.
I mean if you ask me we should go in a lot more radical direction, but that would be a start. A band-aid is not going to cut it at this point.
So it’s better right? Just not perfect but there are no perfect solutions.
EVs → nearly as shitty as cars with an exhaust (+ introduces lithium problems & power plant emissions). Not even close to perfect. Merely calling them “imperfect” misses the point. They’re not even good.
Public transport → significantly better than EVs, but still quite shitty on the environment.
Bicycles (e-bikes) → significantly better than public transport (but demand lithium).
Bicycles (push bikes) → nearly perfect.
Walking → perfect (if you don’t fart). But ⅓ the efficiency of cycling.
That’s the point, it’s not perfect at all, but it’s better, so let’s take that solution for now and work on the next problem
Public transports can do a lot, but it can’t do everything, same for bikes and walking. If we start rejecting every progress because it’s not good enough then we won’t ever progress.
The problem is America is built assuming the use of cars. Most Americans cannot simply trade their car for a bicycle, because they live too far away from goods and services. And even if they could ride the bike the 5 or 10 or 20 miles to the nearest grocery store, good luck getting little Timmy and Suzie to their soccer practice or scout meeting.
So at least an electric car stops the tailpipe emissions while we think about changing where people live and where their services are located.
Everyone loves this “we can’t just tear up infrastructure for public transit” argument but ignore that it’s EXACTLY what we did for cars.
I’m referring to the millions of people who live where there is no possibility of public transit because the population density is way too low. I’m all in favor of making cities car-free zones, but outside of major population centers, the quickest way to help the environment is to switch to electric vehicles.
There’s actually a few places that’s been exploring public transit for rural areas.
The quickest way to help the environment is to lessen car dependence.
If we can afford roads for everyone to drive on we can afford mass transit to replace it.
the quickest way to help the environment is to switch to electric vehicles.
When you buy an EV, it’s not a replacement. Your old car is shipped to Africa where it runs for several more decades. So you’re just adding another harmful car to the planet.
The only wise move AFAICT is to convert your car to an EV & then perhaps use the engine to build a backup power generator for your home. But this won’t happen because suburban car drivers are addicted to convenience and nice new things. They are happy to have this false ecology excuse to buy a new car.
Indeed. And Utrecht sets a good example:
They also reduce noise pollution
And reduce the propping of petrostates
And can be fueled, in theory, almost anywhere there are buildings (including your own home/work)
And that fuel can also, in theory, come from fully sustainable sources
They also help normalise the usage of renewable energy (this is a factor that shouldn’t be overlooked, imo)
You don’t even need buildings really, depending on your definition of a building. I’ve seen some really cool remote solar canopy setups, and they’re not connected to any sort of infrastructure. Just a big umbrella with ~20 solar panels+micro inverters, and a couple of EVSEs on them. It’s not DCFC, but it’d still get you 10-20MPH of charge when camping or something.
When you buy an EV, it does not replace the gas combustion engine. The old car is shipped to Africa where it lives on for several decades more. The avg age of a car bought in Africa is 21 years old. So the EV just adds an additional harmful planet parasite.
They also reduce noise pollution
The noise pollution is exported to Africa.
And reduce the propping of petrostates
Petrostates get propped up by consumers wherever your car ends up.
They also help normalise the usage of renewable energy (this is a factor that shouldn’t be overlooked, imo)
I don’t see how EVs are needed for that. If everyone hypothetically switched to bicycles, renewable energy would still be the goal.
