• ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Sure, but there isn’t an alternative. Currently only 4% of US car owners drive an electric car and only 20% of the energy we produce is renewable. Even if we transition as fast as humanly possible, it would take decades.

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOPM
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      1 year ago

      Right. But it doesn’t look like a sudden cut-over; it’ll look like oil use dropping something like 5% each year if we require every new vehicle to be an EV.

      • vanderstilt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        How soon would the supply chains and manufacturing capacity be ready for every vehicle sold in the US to be an ev?

        • silence7@slrpnk.netOPM
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          1 year ago

          Something like 3-5 years if it was mandated and people living ordinary lives lived with mid-sized cars instead of pickup trucks with less ability to spot a kid in front of them than a tank.

    • blazera@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Other countries seem to be doin a much faster job than us. This dont have shit to do with capabilities.

          • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It is not to increase consumption. The only difference is the oil used in the US will come from the US, not Saudi Arabia, Russia, etc.

            • blazera@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              I said continuing to heat the planet and putting off starting to address our emissions, you telling me this doesnt change anything is exactly the problem, it needs to be changed.

              • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I agree it needs to be changed, but how?

                How do the millions of people who depend on gas cars get to work tomorrow? How do the millions of people with gas stoves heat their dinner tonight? How do the millions of people with gas furnaces stay warm this winter?

                We can’t just stop using fossil fuels without replacements. How do you change any of this faster than we already are?

                • blazera@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  Simplest answer, by wanting to change. Americans dont want to. If they did, we’d be building public transit, bike infrastructure, more renewable energy. Existing fossil fuel applications are one thing, but we’re continuing to build new ones. New gas ranges, new gas vehicles, new gas heaters.

                  Im especially frustrated in rural Mississippi. I really wanna do some solar work, but there’s no solar businesses for hundreds of miles. Big ass trucks and SUV’s everywhere

                  • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    “Wanting to change” isn’t an answer. It’s just an empty slogan. “Wanting to” doesn’t mean I can afford to buy an electric car right now.

                    I just bought a gas stove (came with the condo). I expect it to last for another 20 years. That means I am buying natural gas for another 20 years.

                    Gad heaters are the worst problem. It’s not just that we have to replace all the heaters. The electrical infrastructure just doesn’t exist yet. That likely means building more nuclear and wind power. Getting that to a level to generate the energy to heat all homes will take decades.

                    There is no way to avoid it (short of killing a couple billion people). Fossil fuels are going to be with us for decades more.