About a year ago, my family made the big decision to get a new car.
My old Toyota was approaching 300,000 miles, or in other words, just hitting its prime! But I’d been reading about electric vehicles (EVs) for some time, and after lots of research (maybe my favorite part), I came up with some top choices based on our finances and how the car would be used.
Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for our warming Gulf water temperatures and the associated storms we have been experiencing. Globally, this pollution results from sources like industrial manufacturing (18%) or agriculture and deforestation (17%), but here in the U.S., our largest source of emissions is from transportation (28%). While it may seem that switching to an EV is just trading one emission generator for another, it actually provides significant reductions in carbon pollution.
American electrical generation is increasingly reliant on natural gas and renewables like solar instead of coal. And thanks to the smart, fair EPA regulations on emissions from power plants, our grid is efficient and clean. Even though an electric car still generates pollution while charging its batteries, the emissions from that power plant are far lower than what comes out of the tailpipes of our hundreds of millions of gas-powered cars.
Are EVs perfect? Of course not; the materials for all those batteries need to be mined and processed. In fact, building a brand new EV can create more upfront emissions than conventional gas cars. But the savings in emissions from driving an EV can pay off in less than two years and accrue rapidly from there. Within just six years, an EV will have created half the total emissions of a conventional car; within a decade, it will be three times lower.
Current battery technology relies on cobalt, a mineral mined in unstable parts of the world like the Democratic Republic of Congo. This country is home to human rights abuses, lax child labor and environmental laws, and, with the majority of their cobalt exported to China for processing, there has been no accountability on the mineral producers. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently pledged to eliminate this troublesome mineral from his next generation of EV batteries. Federal subsidies to fossil fuel corporations are around $20 billion annually. Just imagine what type of high-tech advances we could be making in rechargeable batteries if American developers got that kind of support!
Aside from reducing carbon emissions and cleaning the air we breathe, shifting to electric transportation is estimated to create over 2 million high-quality American jobs. In response to these projections, General Motors recently joined Ford, BMW, Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo in supporting stronger standards for fuel economy and emissions of their gas vehicles.
In mid-November, GM took it even further by announcing an ambitious plan to catch industry leader Tesla in EV production within 5 years. With Tesla recently becoming the most valuable car company in the world at $472 billion (compared with just $62 billion for GM), this shift toward EVs is a shrewd business strategy for the American auto giant.
Switching to an electric transportation sector would even improve national security. These days, the U.S. still imports over 9 million barrels of oil per day, sending serious money to foreign governments that may not have our best interests in mind. Sustainable electricity production would be 100% domestic, freeing us from the influence of shady foreign trading partners.
In case you’re wondering, our family opted for the Chevy Volt, and we love it!
There are lots of EV choices available, making this topic too big for one column. So, I’ll follow this up soon with another column for any readers interested in the pros and cons of different EVs. Until then, I’m glad to get your emails with any questions!
Editor’s note: The chart, courtesy of Carbon Brief, represents cumulative greenhouse gas emissions – measured in lifetime tons of CO2 equivalent – for an average new conventional car versus a new Nissan Leaf.
Chris Werle of Lamar County is Mississippi state coordinator for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Write him at chriswerle@cclvolunteer.org.
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