View attachment 3622890And this is what a lithium mine looks like. Imagine how many of these we would need to replace enough ICE cars to make a dent in tailpipe emissions. Much less CO2.
No one is cheering for tailpipe emissions. What we are getting currently is regulatory action not approved by voters making cars less reliable for slight changes in MPG. Historically, increasing cars MPG by government mileage standards (versus just taxing gasoline like Europe does) doesn’t reduce gallons burned. People choose to live in bigger homes further from work, since the higher mpg car reduces monthly fuel costs. You end up with a higher carbon footprint from people living further from work.
Your first photo is Bejing, much of that pollution is from coal burning power plants. China leads the world in EV’s, as a matter of national security….they have no oil and lots of coal, and the minerals required for battery production. So they’re building coal fired power plants as fast as they can. Terrible for the local environment and huge CO2 impact.
How about if we are honest about what actually might reduce pollution? Mileage standards are being pushed to reduce CO2, not to clean up the LA skyline. And my argument is that they don’t make a meaningful difference, while delivering a potentially less reliable auto fleet, without ever considering the carbon footprint or pollution created in building a car (or appliance, or air conditioner etc) that no longer lasts as long.
If LA wants to ban cars to clean up the air, have at it. But that isn’t the same as the EPA twisting decades old laws to outlaw reliable cars.