If owning a car is an absolute necessity for you, then driving the smallest possible electric vehicle that meets your minimum needs can be a good choice.

But beware — industry advertising and government propaganda will try to convince you that you need something BIGGER, as we learn in this article from Amy Westervelt (@amywestervelt)...
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The transportation sector is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., which is why it’s a primary target for decarbonization. And thanks to the availability of both electric vehicles and government incentives to purchase them, American consumers are embracing the shift, with EV purchases expected to represent half of all vehicle purchases by 2030.

But that shift will bring with it other environmental impacts related to mineral mining and the land required for large-scale renewable projects to provide the electricity all those cars plug into. Policies that reduce car dependency and encourage the use of mass transit can speed decarbonization, make the energy transition more just, reduce environmental impacts, and ease tensions around increasingly scarce resources.

Policies that reduce the need for mining and land tend to be popular with voters too. They enable things like more public transit options, which consistently polls well with American voters.

They’re not so popular with entrenched corporate interests, though. The automotive industry, for example, is not only unlikely to get behind measures to reduce car dependency, it’s also working hard to sell Americans on the largest possible electric vehicles.

According to data from the advertising data firm MediaRadar, the top five largest ad budgets for electric vehicles over the last two years were all for SUVs, not the sedans or compacts that run on smaller batteries. Brands with multiple electric car models, including Chevrolet, Nissan, and Volkswagen, spent more than twice as much money advertising their largest models as their more efficient compact models.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://theintercept.com/2023/05/08/energy-transition-utilities-consumption/

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #Propaganda