this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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We can have both - they aren't mutually exclusive. I both want better public transport - but also acknowledge there are towns with populations of 800 people in the midwest where it's going to take a century before they even start thinking of having bus routes - let alone rail lines.
Electric vehicles are a now solution. Public Transport is a solution that will take centuries in areas like that.
They'll probably never get there. Those small towns are losing population.
That said, more people should consider e-bikes. It's OK if you come to the conclusion that it won't work for you, but do some research. It might be that your objections aren't as insurmountable as you think.
Okay, I was with you in the first half. I live in Australia, there are plenty of places that you need a car. I clearly wasn’t talking about those situations though.
In my part of Australia, the grid is powered by burning brown coal. One of, if not the most, dirty form of power generation. We have no plan on how to stop burning it either. So electric vehicles are just going to make things worse.
Electric vehicles as a solution is the exact same brainwashing as recycling making a difference. When the biggest impact would be made by targeting corporate polluters.
Also, seriously, centuries? I forgot that trains were invented in the 1600s and that’s why the midwest finally had them by the late 1800s.
Unless you buy the most extravagant and silly EV on the market (the Hummer), EVs are still a win over ICE when powered by coal plants.
And yes, it would be incredibly difficult for these towns to transition to usable public transportation. There are decisions literally set in concrete. You'd have to tear down perfectly good buildings and replace them with higher density housing. The concrete you would need is itself a major CO2 emitter. You could basically let everyone drive ICE cars for an extra decade for the amount of concrete you'd need.
CO2 neutral concrete (or even CO2 negative) is out there, but it's not scaled up enough yet.
Meaning that electric vehicles are something that the average person can do right now to ebb climate change. However if your local power authority hasn't gone green (mine is a combo of hydro, wind, and nuclear) then you should also push them to go green asap.
Please don't call it brainwashing. I've researched the subject from a lot of angles and have come to the conclusion it's the best for me, while I still push our local governments to build out transport. I'm trying to lower my carbon footprint the best I can as an individual.