Gregory's ServerOnce again the SF Chronicle has edited a letter to the editor from me to make me look stupid. What they published: Electric cars kill millions of people every year. What I actually wrote: Cars kill a million people per year. There were other dumb changes too. Thanks a lot.
Jef Poskanzer :batman:
7 comments
Jef Poskanzer :batman:
@dr2chase It makes me wonder how many other letters that look dumb are actually just incoherent editing.
Jef Poskanzer :batman:
Here's what I wrote: Electric cars are still cars. Electric cars fix one problem with cars completely: tailpipe emissions. They improve on another problem: overall energy use. They are worse on two car problems: embodied energy and resource use during manufacture, and greater vehicle weight causing more road damage and people damage. [continued]
Jef Poskanzer :batman:
They are the same on a bunch of other car problems: kill a million people per year, are a hugely inefficient way to move people, emit microplastics from tire wear, take up half the space in cities, get in the way of buses and emergency vehicles, make drivers psychotic. Electric cars are still cars, and cars are bad. Get an e-bike!
DELETED
I despise drive through lanes. My justification is they are hugely wasteful, and encourage idling. My wife asked why I still hate drive through with an EV, we aren't idling? My response is that our EV is not emitting anything, but we make the queue longer and all the other cars held up are emissions due to our EV in the lane. Same goes for traffic. Your car might not emmit anything, but the congestion due to your car is very real.
Kilroy_Was_Here
Brake dust is a huge pollutant as well. I think it beats tailpipe emissions nowadays. Of course, since cars keep getting heavier that means they need more brakes..... I live in the country where a car is pretty much required but my goal is to move into a city and use a little 49cc Honda scooter to get around. I hate driving around 3 extra seats I never use and a cargo space I never fill up all the way. I hate that it's seen as the norm too. |
@jef My dad wrote 100s of LTEs (against the war on some drugs), got many published, not sure if that happened to him (and he's no longer here to ask). Been trying to figure out, what to write to persuade people. Whole lot of people need to get out of their car rut.