5 ms·

Kind of a fucking shame. As individuals, we are generally quite powerless in the climate crisis. The world is being ruined by companies and governments that we

by evv 8y ago

Kind of a fucking shame. As individuals, we are generally quite powerless in the climate crisis. The world is being ruined by companies and governments that we generally cannot influence. The power we retain: how we spend our money. Electric vehicles offer perhaps the most significant opportunity for the average consumer to improve the carbon emission status-quo. Regardless of the ecological impact, I've quickly come to see ICE cars as quite gross. I don't want tail pipes, the smell of gasoline fumes, or the angry noises. My E-Golf is delightfully zippy and quiet. For the driving experience, I'd choose this car in a heartbeat over any old-fashioned-engine auto. That being said, it does suck to have an EV because of range anxiety, having to hunt for charging stations, and being forced to camp while the car charges. I really wish I had an PHEV to address these issues, but there are sadly few options on the market today. I can only drive an EV because I've installed a charger at home, but most people do not have the ability to do so. I'll have to get rid of my EV when I move, downgrading to mini-explosions in my car. ...which leads to my point: If Tesla was serious about transitioning the world to sustainable energy, they would build a full PHEV lineup, or offer generator options for their existing cars. You need to appeal to the vast majority of consumers who are not ready for full electric. But I suspect Tesla won't do this because they have too much pride.

lrem 8y ago
According to my neighbour it is no problem to drive a Tesla 2700km from Switzerland to Finland, through Germany, Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
- usrusr 8y ago
  Just don't pat yourself on the back too hard for that. That route takes you through some of the most CO2-intensive electricity grids. A Tesla charged in Poland is a much dirtier car than a Tesla charged in California or Switzerland. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying that making that trip is a terrible thing to do. I do worse things myself, e.g. traveling by plane. We all have the option of instantly reducing or CO2 footprint to that of our bodies decomposing but none of us is willing to go that far.
  - eisa01 8y ago
    Europe has a cap on CO2 emissions through the EU ETS, so your marginal contribution to emissions is zero by driving an electric car. You’re only contribution is to increase electricity demand, and indirectly raise CO2 prices
  - atq2119 8y ago
    Is it still as dirty as an ICE car, though? Considering that electric engines are so much more efficient than combustion engines, which reduces the primary energy use significantly?
    - usrusr 8y ago
      On the chemical level, , before applying conversion, transmission and utilization inefficiencies that all drive trains suffer from in some form, coal releases more CO2 per Joule of raw output than petrol. Up to 50% more, depending on coal quality, according to the tables at https://www.volker-quaschning.de/datserv/CO2-spez/index_e.php https://www.volker-quaschning.de/datserv/CO2-spez/index_e.ph... . The difference is even bigger between coal and natural gas, so if the EV wins the comparison by a considerable but not stellar margin on a gas-powered grid it might still lose on a coal grid. Basically, my point is that even when you are driving an EV you are still driving. We are prone to forget that.
      - rjsw 8y ago
        ... and brown coal is the worst kind.
  - lrem 8y ago
    It's more about the surprise that Poland, with average salary country-wide being well below 15k$/year, is not a no-go zone for Tesla. I suspect you have to charge twice to get through the country.
door5 8y ago
> Electric vehicles offer perhaps the most significant opportunity for the average consumer to improve the carbon emission status-quo Public transit. Electric cars hardly put a dent in climate change. We need higher density cities, less sprawl, more robust public transit, and a nationwide high speed rail network. These all require political will, policy change and public money -- no private company will do this. > As individuals, we are generally quite powerless in the climate crisis. The world is being ruined by companies and governments that we generally cannot influence. Right now the green new deal is an extremely popular idea in public consciousness, and activists have pushed it to the point that nearly every Democrat running for president has signed off on it. We are not powerless, use your platform and your resources to advocate for political change.
- evv 8y ago
  Political change is slow and the climate is changing fast. You can't just undo urban sprawl or turn on public transit infrastructure. We need widespread adoption of (PH)EVs in addition to the improvements you mention. But you're correct that we do have the power to influence politics. Thanks to our broken democracy, the power to decide the next US president lies with a rather small number of voters: those in swing states who aren't already firmly decided. Maybe we can figure out how to identify and persuade these people to vote for the candidates that best protect their interests. Can you think of any such hacks that can compete with FB and Twitter misinformation campaigns?
- shittyadmin 8y ago
  > less sprawl > no private company will do this. Many cities are blocking developers from buying up homes in old neighborhoods to build apartments and condos which could house far more people closer to their jobs. Often this boils down to NIMBYs lobbying city councils while those who would buy said apartments aren't exactly in a place to do that. There's a lot of low hanging fruit like this where trivial policy fixes could go a long way without the political challenges of massive public spending, but we can't even get these set up properly. A simple shift from allowing developers to build more suburbs to more apartments and condos would do a lot of good in many cities.
digisign 8y ago
I work remotely, and leaf blowers have become the bane of my existence. Dirtier and noisier than ten modern cars. They're illegal here, but the city will not enforce.
- Camillo 8y ago
  All leaf blowers must be destroyed.

by evv 8y ago

lrem 8y ago

According to my neighbour it is no problem to drive a Tesla 2700km from Switzerland to Finland, through Germany, Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

usrusr 8y ago
Just don't pat yourself on the back too hard for that. That route takes you through some of the most CO2-intensive electricity grids. A Tesla charged in Poland is a much dirtier car than a Tesla charged in California or Switzerland. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying that making that trip is a terrible thing to do. I do worse things myself, e.g. traveling by plane. We all have the option of instantly reducing or CO2 footprint to that of our bodies decomposing but none of us is willing to go that far.
- eisa01 8y ago
  Europe has a cap on CO2 emissions through the EU ETS, so your marginal contribution to emissions is zero by driving an electric car. You’re only contribution is to increase electricity demand, and indirectly raise CO2 prices
- atq2119 8y ago
  Is it still as dirty as an ICE car, though? Considering that electric engines are so much more efficient than combustion engines, which reduces the primary energy use significantly?
  - usrusr 8y ago
    On the chemical level, , before applying conversion, transmission and utilization inefficiencies that all drive trains suffer from in some form, coal releases more CO2 per Joule of raw output than petrol. Up to 50% more, depending on coal quality, according to the tables at https://www.volker-quaschning.de/datserv/CO2-spez/index_e.php https://www.volker-quaschning.de/datserv/CO2-spez/index_e.ph... . The difference is even bigger between coal and natural gas, so if the EV wins the comparison by a considerable but not stellar margin on a gas-powered grid it might still lose on a coal grid. Basically, my point is that even when you are driving an EV you are still driving. We are prone to forget that.
    - rjsw 8y ago
      ... and brown coal is the worst kind.
- lrem 8y ago
  It's more about the surprise that Poland, with average salary country-wide being well below 15k$/year, is not a no-go zone for Tesla. I suspect you have to charge twice to get through the country.

door5 8y ago

> Electric vehicles offer perhaps the most significant opportunity for the average consumer to improve the carbon emission status-quo Public transit. Electric cars hardly put a dent in climate change. We need higher density cities, less sprawl, more robust public transit, and a nationwide high speed rail network. These all require political will, policy change and public money -- no private company will do this. > As individuals, we are generally quite powerless in the climate crisis. The world is being ruined by companies and governments that we generally cannot influence. Right now the green new deal is an extremely popular idea in public consciousness, and activists have pushed it to the point that nearly every Democrat running for president has signed off on it. We are not powerless, use your platform and your resources to advocate for political change.

evv 8y ago
Political change is slow and the climate is changing fast. You can't just undo urban sprawl or turn on public transit infrastructure. We need widespread adoption of (PH)EVs in addition to the improvements you mention. But you're correct that we do have the power to influence politics. Thanks to our broken democracy, the power to decide the next US president lies with a rather small number of voters: those in swing states who aren't already firmly decided. Maybe we can figure out how to identify and persuade these people to vote for the candidates that best protect their interests. Can you think of any such hacks that can compete with FB and Twitter misinformation campaigns?
shittyadmin 8y ago
> less sprawl > no private company will do this. Many cities are blocking developers from buying up homes in old neighborhoods to build apartments and condos which could house far more people closer to their jobs. Often this boils down to NIMBYs lobbying city councils while those who would buy said apartments aren't exactly in a place to do that. There's a lot of low hanging fruit like this where trivial policy fixes could go a long way without the political challenges of massive public spending, but we can't even get these set up properly. A simple shift from allowing developers to build more suburbs to more apartments and condos would do a lot of good in many cities.

digisign 8y ago

I work remotely, and leaf blowers have become the bane of my existence. Dirtier and noisier than ten modern cars. They're illegal here, but the city will not enforce.

Camillo 8y ago
All leaf blowers must be destroyed.