Hacker News Reader

Comment by xutopia | Hacker News Reader

The majority of the population does not care about this one bit. They're going to carry on driving their gas guzzlers. The only change we can make is if we, who understand what is at stake, invest in renewables to bring their price down.

When the backwards people will see us all in our cheap to run, fast to accelerate and cheap to maintain electric pass them on the highway will they feel dumb buying gallons of gas to keep their guzzlers going.

View on HN

Consumer gas vehicle make up a TINY fraction of the cause of greenhouse emissions worldwide. Everyone changing to EVs isn't going to fix anything, especially when that electrical power can come from dirty power plants.

The big changes need to come from agriculture, commercial, and industrial industries. The world also needs to quickly phase out coal and gas power plants and switch to all renewable so new "green" electric vehicles are actually better for the environment.

> Consumer gas vehicle make up a TINY fraction

According to [1], transportation is 26% of greenhouse emissions, of which over half is passenger cars and light-duty trucks.

[1] https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emis...

Those are US emissions only. What about China? India? The EU?

As you can also see from that report, 30% of emissions come from electricity generation. If we all switch to EVs, expect that % from consumer vehicles to just flip to electricity. That can't be fixed until all our electricity is 100% renewable.

It can be improved as soon as average electricity generation is cleaner than internal combustion engines, which it is today.

>> The majority of the population does not care about this one bit. They're going to carry on driving their gas guzzlers. The only change we can make is if we, who understand what is at stake, invest in renewables

>> When the backwards people will see us all in our cheap to run, fast to accelerate and cheap to maintain electric pass them on the highway will they feel dumb buying gallons of gas to keep their guzzlers going.

It's always funny to see someone posting online about how they consider themselves to be part of a group that supposedly "cares", while proclaiming that it's other people who are the (larger part of the) problem.

If you a) live in a populated city; b) purchase products that must be manufactured, shipped, and disposed of; c) own any vehicle (including fully electric); d) use electricity to power heat, A/C, and technology including a computer used to post on HN: you are categorically part of the problem. There is no such thing as an environmentally responsible citizen in any first world country. We all live unsustainably, and no amount of "I bought an electric vehicle", "I recycle and compost", "I buy local", etc., makes the tiniest dent in the system. I wish people who believe they are environmentally self-conscious while still living in unsustainable comfort would get off their high horses. Your contribution to the ecosystem's woes is not measurably different whatsoever compared to that of your "uncaring" neighbors.

That part you neglect to mention are those who advocate for making changes at the federal level politically that would actually create the solutions required for the problem versus the type of people who vote in folks like Donald Trump who actively deny the problem exists.

Given that consideration, the core of your premise is false.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com