Notices by Doug Gordon (brooklynspoke@mastodon.social)

Where people have no alternatives to driving and won't for a long time if ever, then -- yes -- they should be driving electric vehicles.

But a society built around everyone owning a giant box made with metal, plastic, rubber and glass is not "good" for the planet no matter how that giant box is powered.

We need to change the framing on this. Electric cars are not “good” for the planet — they are only slightly less bad than internal combustion vehicles.

And in the case of absurdly large electric SUVs like the Hummer for Ford F-150 Lightning, they are much worse than even a smaller gas-burning car.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/17/climate/electric-vehicle-emissions-truck-suv.html

"Living near traffic is associated with higher asthma rates. Reducing pollution from cars and trucks could have very large effects on children’s health, especially the health of poor children, who are disproportionately exposed to air pollution."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/climate/gas-stove-questions.html

For my own sanity — and as the unofficial moderator of The War on Cars account — I'm actively muting anyone who thinks "Not everyone can bike everywhere, you know" is a cogent argument against reducing car dependency.

I've taken the attitude of @notjustbikes to heart and simply don't have patience for it anymore.