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Though I would argue with some of the author's assumptions about carbon footprints and power grid challenges, he's right that fewer cars ultimately means a bett
by sxates 9y ago
Though I would argue with some of the author's assumptions about carbon footprints and power grid challenges, he's right that fewer cars ultimately means a better environment and less carbon. No argument with that.
However... As much as I'd love to just tell everyone to ride a bike to work, or the grocery store, or to drop off their kids, or whatever, the reality is that in most cities (especially US cities) a car is a requirement. City planners assumed everyone would have one, engineers overbuilt roads for them to the detriment of walking or biking, and businesses and residential areas are often far apart from each other.
In order to achieve a more efficient transportation system, we'll have to redesign and rebuild our cities, and that simply isn't a realistic short term goal. We should work on that, reset our standards, change our zoning laws, and encourage denser living spaces that are built for people instead of cars, but we have to recognize this will take decades.
So in the mean time, solar panels and an electric car DO have a material impact on carbon emissions, and I'd encourage everyone to begin that migration until such time as we live in cities that don't require cars.
- vvanders 9y ago+1. It's not even inside our cities, getting between our cities is a complete mess. I'm ~15mi from the nearest big(2k pop+) city. There's zero buses that run these routes. Getting to the large metro area? I'd burn 7 hours on the train for the same drive that takes me ~2.5 hours to go 150mi. When I have to travel into the office I literally can't make a day trip of it(train arrives at 12:30pm, leaves at 1pm) if I didn't use a car. Steps in the right direction is the key.
- Karrot_Kream 9y agoYou're already taking a huge step by not coming into the office everyday.
- nicoburns 9y agoI think the emphasis on US cities is key here. I've yet to live in a european city where a car is a requirment. Agree with you on the short term however.
- opensourcenews 9y ago> City planners assumed everyone would have one, engineers overbuilt roads for them to the detriment of walking or biking, and businesses and residential areas are often far apart from each other. Close. More like "rich white people had cars, rich white people control local zoning and planning decisions, ergo cities and suburbs were planned to accommodate those rich white people's cars, and then we all had to get one just to survive because density and infrastructure support dollars dropped to a point where other modes became unviable."
- ianai 9y agoIt’s too bad the US doesn’t have a “redo” cycle. Ie changing infrastructure or rebuilding anything is almost never seriously done. It’s like we’re all locked into the same mold.
- ced 9y agoelectric car DO have a material impact on carbon emissions Isn't the point of the article that it has little real impact, because in most cases it shifts the CO2 production from the car to the power plant? How long will it take until most energy needs in North America are met by renewables? change our zoning laws, and encourage denser living spaces that are built for people instead of cars, but we have to recognize this will take decades. If we wanted, we could redesign our cities for public transit and walkability in short order. The fundamental problem is that most North Americans don't want the changes you propose, and that is why our CO2 footprint is three times the world average.
- Carioca 9y ago> Isn't the point of the article that it has little real impact, because in most cases it shifts the CO2 production from the car to the power plant? Power plants are a lot more efficient and better at managing pollution. Plus, the grids are trending towards greener sources.