4 Ways All Electric Vehicles Are Doing More Harm To Mankind Than Good

While reading the October, 2019 issue of the California headquartered Motor Trend magazine I came across a letter to the editor from a “63-year old baby boomer” who wrote:

I’m a liberal greeny who knows that the planet has to be saved. Humans have caused climate change, but too many humans don’t want to recognize that fact. Especially human politicians.

The editor Ed responded with:

A lot of great points, Tom. There’s no doubt that fossil fuel powerplants hurt when it comes to emissions, but depending where you live, the impact could be minimal.

What does this 63-year old greeny get wrong?

Electric Vehicles (EVs) Depend on Government Subsidies

In a Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) column titled Electric Cars vs. Gas Cars: Is the Conventional Wisdom Wrong? Bill Wirtz wrote:

When Denmark got rid of its tax credits for electric vehicles, Tesla’s sales dropped by 94 percent. In Hong Kong, the company saw a decline of 95 percent as the city got rid of comparable tax advantages for those buying electric cars.

If you are a taxpayer and don’t drive an EV then your helping to pay for someone else’s all electric car or truck.

EVs Don’t Contribute to Gas Taxes

The gas taxes in the United State are used to build and maintain local roads and bridges, and the federal and state highway systems.

Julian Spector and Julia Pyper in the July 5, 2017 Green Tech Media column 17 States Now Charge Fees for Electric Vehicles reported:

Several states have passed or enacted new fees this year, bringing the total to 17.* Recent additions include West Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and California, which is home to leading EV maker Tesla and a suite of policies designed to incentivize electric-car adoption. South Carolina enacted a biennial fee for electric cars.

The following nine states passed or implemented EV fees in previous years: Georgia, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina and Virginia (see chart below). According to the Sierra Club, other states have introduced legislation this year that would require EV owners to pay a separate fee, including Kansas, New Hampshire and Montana.

Read more.

EVs Cause Harm to Mankind

In Electric Cars vs. Gas Cars: Is the Conventional Wisdom Wrong? Bill Wirtz wrote:

Electric vehicle batteries need a multitude of resources to be manufactured. In the case of cobalt, the World Economic Forum has called out the extraction conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 20 percent of the world’s cobalt comes from. Miners as young as seven years are suffering from chronic lung disease from exposure to cobalt dust. [Emphasis added]

EVs Strain Existing Electrical Grids

FEE’s Bill Wirtz wrote:

[O]ver 95 percent of Norway’s electricity comes from hydropower, of which 90 percent is publicly owned. That does not come without its downsides. As electricity consumption increases in Norway, the sector is unable to keep up. Last year, lack of rainfall and low wind speed exploded Norwegian electricity prices to the level of Germany (which is still in the process of phasing out nuclear energy). Norway then resorted to coal power, and as fossil fuel power imports exceeded energy export, Norway has actually seen an increase in CO2 emissions. [Emphasis added]

Zero Hedge’s Tyler Durden in the column $35 Billion: UK Faces Huge Loss From Electric Vehicle Adoption noted:

If Great Britain keeps its commitment to switch over its vehicles to electric by 2050, the government will see a whopping loss of 28 billion pounds ($35 billion) paid by motorists driving traditional gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles.

Read more.

FEE’s Bill Wirtz concludes, “As much as consumers might care about CO2 emissions, they are even more price-sensitive. Even those consumers who aren’t will eventually be swayed when they find out their car brand is costing them comparably excruciating amounts in fuel.”

America depends on cheap, reliable and dependable sources of energy. Be it electricity or fuel for your automobile. California, the state with the most EVs, is experiencing electrical black outs.

Mankind advances via new technologies. Key to technology is reliable energy. Without reliable energy we go back to the dark ages, like in Northern California.

Conclusion

The climate changes on Mars as it does on plant earth, but there are no cars on the red planet.

The bottom line is:

The climate changes.
These changes follow natural cycles.
Mankind cannot change these natural cycles.

Mankind was given dominion over the earth and all of its natural resources. Not using these natural resources, either voluntarily or by government mandate, harms humans. Using these natural resources wisely advances human flourishing.

Man can’t control the weather let alone the climate. Our 63-year old liberal greeny needs to face the facts. Going green isn’t helping mankind.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Electric Cars Aren’t Nearly as Green as People Think

It’s Time to Kill the Generous Electric–Vehicle Subsidies

Zero Emission Vehicles Can Increase Air Pollution