washingtonpost OP t1_jd55lue wrote on March 21, 2023 at 10:17 PM

Reply to comment by InvisibleBlueUnicorn in I write The Washington Post’s Climate Coach column, where I help people figure out what they can do to help curb climate change. Ask me Anything! by washingtonpost

It matters! The transportation sector is now the largest source GHG emissions in the US: 27%. Decarbonizing that is critical. While not perfect, EVs are a necessary step in getting US emissions on track. Of course, it’s best to walk, bike, share, etc. but electric mobility is important, especially as we decarbonize the electricity grid. The one exception?

The electric Hummer is actually worse than many gasoline vehicles.

Afireonthesnow t1_jd5dqa2 wrote on March 21, 2023 at 11:13 PM

What are your thoughts on America really missing the transition from car centric communities to walk/bike/transit based communities in the distraction of electric cars?

Cars use a TON of energy. They are really really inefficient and the environmental impact of battery production is substantial..

I'm not promoting ICE vehicles either but I hope we can get to a country where a family has 1 or 2 cars instead of 2-4+ even in rural areas... Biking transit etc is just SO much better for land use, concrete production, energy power trip etc. I'm really frustrated that people think they are saving the planet by switching to an EV when they really aren't changing very much. The manufacturing of that EV is a lot of GHG emissions as well =\