Letters: The truth about EVs; Biden must act on climate change - VC Star

Letters: The truth about EVs; Biden must act on climate change

Letters to the editor: The truth about EVs; Biden must act on climate change

Myths about EVs don’t help

Re: Ron Van Dyck’s July 25 letter, “Government needs collaboration”:

I agree with letter writer’s call for more government collaboration. But if one side is acting on disinformation, conspiracy theories or anecdotal information instead of facts, I don’t see a path to compromise.

The letter writer states that a Tesla has worse lifetime emissions than a conventional gas car. This is myth No. 1 of five myths that are cited on the EPA’s website. EVs currently have a larger initial carbon footprint, but after 15,000 miles, the emissions are equal. After driving 135,000 miles a mid-sized EV has less than half the emissions of a gas-powered car, and that assumes the EV uses relatively dirty electricity, and the mining of nickel and cobalt for the battery.

Now many cars made by Tesla and other companies are using lithium iron phosphate batteries which do not use cobalt or nickel; they have even lower lifetime emissions. With the recycling of batteries, the precious minerals and lithium will be recycled, eliminating most of the mining emissions. Compare that with the continued need to extract fossil fuel for the gas car. At 135,000 miles, a car getting 35 mpg has used 23,000 pounds of gasoline and emitted 73,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.

Transportation accounts for 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Electrifying transportation is the easiest way to reduce our emissions. If we want to hand our children a world which we still recognize, we need to transition away from burning fossil fuels as soon as possible.

Become informed on our changing planet. Search the web for a climate organization near you and attend a meeting; ask questions, get answers, and then act.

Wayne Morgan, Ventura

Urge Biden on climate change

An open letter to District Representative Brownley:

Please help the citizens of your country and the life of our planet: insist that President Biden declare a national emergency to deal with the reality of climate change.

This issue is larger than any district, state, nation, or political affiliation.

The president has 135 emergency powers available to him. Their forceful use could inspire other governments to follow suit.

Thirteen additional statutory powers are available to President Biden when Congress itself declares such an emergency. All members of the Congress should be willing to demand appropriate actions enabled by U. S. code sections. It is our hope that your office will not just investigate the possibilities but be proactive in demanding action.

This is not just another crisis; the changes are global and existential. Please use your voice and position to motivate the president (and Congress).

Barry Blades, Newbury Park