Several Republican representatives have proposed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act to try to stop the Pentagon’s electrification. The proposals sound so mind-bogglingly dumb that they look like they were written by 19th-century Luddites or the fossil fuel industry itself....
It’s still a BIG problem that because of car manufacturing influence, most media & political energy goes to EVs, with not NEARLY enough going to fewer cars/less driving. But the priority HAS to be the latter, the part of the solution that will actually do much more public good. #EV#ElectricVehicles#cars#cities
“EVs, and hybrid cars to a lesser extent, enjoy a global image that is entirely unjustified. The pitch – buy an EV and save the planet – is just nonsense. Their presence will still disfigure cities, pushing politicians and developers to build new parking lots, roads and highways to gratify the endless swarms of drivers.”
Hydrogen bus project cancelled in France once it was realized that they could accomplish the same for 1/6th the cost using Electric buses.
I mean... it's just common sense. We already have an electrical grid, not a hydrogen distribution network.
Plus, Converting energy to electricity to battery potential to motion is WAAAY more efficient than converting energy to hydrogen and then converting it back.
Last week I posted Rowan Atkinson's piece in which he cast doubt on the current viability fo #electriccars & some of you replied with opposing analyses suggesting EVs can & should be more widely used & are already helping battle the #clinatecrisis
Now the Guardian itself has put up an extensive debunking of Atkinson's anti- #electricvehicles arguments, which I am also happy to post - not least as much will be familiar to you from last weeks' comments in the timeline
Opinion: Why the birthplace of the Western #Apache religion shouldn’t be destroyed by a #CopperMine
by Luke Goodrich
February 6, 2024·
"A federal court is poised to decide whether a #NativeAmerican#sacred site will be destroyed by a massive #copper#mine. Mining proponents claim that destroying the #SacredSite is necessary for the development of #GreenEnergy. That claim is both factually wrong and morally repugnant. And recent polling shows that the vast majority of Americans agree with what the constitution requires: #Native sacred sites deserve the same protection as all other houses of worship.
"Since before European contact, #WesternApache and other Native tribes have lived and honored their #Creator at #OakFlat, or 'Chi’chil Bildagoteel.' The site is the birthplace of Western Apache religion and the site of ancient religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Because of its religious and cultural significance, Oak Flat is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been protected from mining and other destructive practices for decades.
"That changed in 2014, when several members of Congress, supported by #corporate#mining#lobbyists, slipped an amendment into a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to a foreign-owned mining giant. That company, #ResolutionCopper, announced plans to obliterate the sacred ground by swallowing it in a mining crater nearly two miles wide and 1,100-feet deep, ending Apache religious practices forever. That was no surprise given the company’s sordid history dealing with #IndigenousPeoples. The majority owner of Resolution Copper is #RioTinto (the world’s second largest mining company), which sparked international outrage in 2020 when it destroyed a 46,000-year-old rock shelter with some of the most significant #Aboriginal artifacts in all of #Australia.
"The Apache and their allies, represented by my firm, the #BecketFundForReligiousLiberty, have been fighting in court to ensure that such an atrocity won’t repeat itself at Oak Flat. After initial court rulings against the Apache, a full panel of 11 judges at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reheard their appeal last spring. A decision on whether the government can execute the land transfer is expected any day.
"Resolution Copper and its backers want the public to believe that building the mine is essential for developing #renewable energy. Extracting the copper beneath Oak Flat, they say, will help to build batteries necessary for powering #ElectricVehicles and thus fight #ClimateChange. In other words, we have to destroy Oak Flat in order to save the planet.
"These claims, however, are false — and they are specifically designed to obscure the physical and cultural destruction the project would wreak on the land.
"The mine will destroy the #environment, not save it. It is undisputed that the mine will swallow the ecologically diverse landscape of Oak Flat in a massive crater, decimating the local #ecosystem. It will also leave behind approximately 1.37 billion tons of '#tailings,' or #MiningWaste, which, according to the government’s own environmental assessment, will pollute the #groundwater and scar the landscape permanently. And the mine will consume vast quantities of water at the time it is most needed by drought-stricken towns and #farmers.
"Supporters of the mine are also at odds with the majority of Americans. According to this year’s Religious Freedom Index, an annual survey conducted by Becket, 74% of Americans believe that Native sacred sites on federal land should be protected from mining projects, even when the projects are purportedly pro-jobs and pro-environment.
"That conclusion is both sensible and humane. America can transition to renewable energy without blasting the cradle of Western Apache religion into oblivion. And it should. For too long, our nation has made excuses for taking advantage of #IndigenousPeople and their land. Indeed, our nation drove the Western Apache off Oak Flat and surrounding lands in the 1800s precisely to make way for #MiningInterests. It shouldn’t repeat that #injustice again.
"It is past time to protect Indigenous sacred sites from further destruction. Basic fairness and our constitutional commitment to religious freedom require no less. And, happily, most Americans agree."
Vry important article on how the market-supremacist way we approach #ClimateChange solutions hurts us all.
"Although the EV rush has reduced tailpipe emissions, it has also entrenched car dependence, which inflicts other kinds of damage."
Think about how #Climate solutions face a crowding-out effect: solutions favored by corporations, like #ElectricVehicles can be a substitute for more transformative change like rethinking travel & transit infrastructure.
Researchers at Cornell University have created a lithium battery that can charge in under five minutes, while still delivering a stable performance through repeated “charging and discharging” cycles.
We're working on a new multi-month project about EV charging accessibility.
If you're an EV owner OR a potential EV owner who:
Uses a mobility aid, such as a wheelchair, knee walkers, prosthetic limb, or other mobility device designed to assist in your personal mobility
Has reduced core or upper-body strength (making lifting large cables hard or difficult).
Makes use of Speech-to-text services or makes use of teleprinters (textphones or minicoms)
Is a carer, parent or guardian to someone who requires extra space or assistance getting in and out of vehicles.
...then we'd love to talk to you off camera about your experiences, with a view to (potentially, with your consent, of course), filming with you at a later date. Much like our last video in our series on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, (https://youtu.be/ip64lqg6TJg) we'll be questioning and interviewing charging station manufacturers and operators.
Interested? Please email show at transportevolved dot com.
U.S. sales of #ElectricVehicles continue to grow rapidly, and #Tesla's market share keeps dropping. Sell your Tesla stock while it's still worth something!
People: Can we buy those cute, crash-tested $10k electric cars the Chinese are making?
U.S. Car Companies: No, that would destroy us.
People: Are you going to make some EV's we can afford?
U.S. Car Companies: No. Just mostly 70k+ giant electric SUV's.
(later that day)
U.S. Car Companies: Nobody wants EVs! Might as well stop makin' em! #cars#electricvehicles#climatecrisis
The number of battery #ElectricVehicles (BEVs) on Norway's 🇳🇴 roads is on track to overtake petrol cars by the end of this year or in early 2025, in a first for any country Norway aims to end sale of new petrol, diesel cars in 2025 ⛽️🚫 https://buff.ly/43PgYH2
This is a follow-up post to my previous one about 1,000 or so Tesla, many Cybertrucks included, being abandoned behind the old Chesterfield Mall. Below is my 1st post and the 2nd an article talking about the Tesla being stored behind the old mall. Apparently they're running out of room to stick them.
For supporters of a #hydrogen#transport economy, its all looking a bit like the Betamax/VHS choice in the 1980s (for this of you old enough to recall the river video system);
Republicans try to stop military’s electrification with mind-bogglingly dumb proposals (electrek.co)
Several Republican representatives have proposed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act to try to stop the Pentagon’s electrification. The proposals sound so mind-bogglingly dumb that they look like they were written by 19th-century Luddites or the fossil fuel industry itself....