3 ms·
I've previously heard Elon answer this question. The biggest blocker with reducing Carbon emissions was the whataboutism of consumer car use (i.e. decentralized
by yazaddaruvala 6y ago
I've previously heard Elon answer this question. The biggest blocker with reducing Carbon emissions was the whataboutism of consumer car use (i.e. decentralized carbon emissions). Migrating all consumer cars to electric gets rid of that whataboutism. Now we can focus on the real Carbon emitters:
1. There are few car manufacturers, there are many car users. Its easy to scrutinize and regulate car manufacturers through Carbon credits, or some future system so they offset /eliminate the Carbon emission. Similar efforts, like a Carbon tax on gasoline, were shot down previously (in general; there were some passed) for "penalizing consumers" (i.e. no longer an insurmountable issue because mass migration to electric cars are now seen as inevitable).
2. Electricity production is relatively consolidated (solar's decentralization is already a move toward "green energy" so I'll skip its impact). Given the consolidation of energy production, its again easy to use regulation or consumer bargaining power to sift production to "green energy".
In conclusion, while there is valid debate about "Are car factories and electricity production really carbon beneficial compared with ICE cars?", there is no debate that "having solved the decentralized carbon emissions problem (i.e. previously a technology limitation), the next step to improve centralized, large scale factories and electricity production is simple (i.e. an ROI calculation for those companies - e.g. given a factory is already in Texas and active during daylight hours, is it cheaper to produce cars using solar?)".