by Vanessa Brown Calder
Tesla Motors recently announced that its latest model, the Tesla 3,
will be released at the end of 2017. Almost 400,000 pre-orders have
already been placed for the fan favorite that boasts a celebrity
clientele including Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and George Clooney.
For $35,000 you, too, can be the proud owner of the environmental
solution of the future: a coal-powered automobile, subsidized by Uncle
Sam. The Tesla 3 stands out in a class of cars that overpromise and
under-deliver. The promise? Just by buckling up, you are part of the
solution to saving the world from toxic carbon emissions, the compounds
that draw the ire of any environmentally conscious citizen. On a daily
basis, you, too, can be Captain Planet, a bona fide American hero. Where does it originate? Sixty-eight percent of the electricity
generated in the United States is generated from fossil fuels, and half
of that amount, or one-third of the total electricity generated, comes
from coal. In some states, such as Kentucky and Wyoming, around 90
percent of electricity is produced from coal. And coal-fired power
plants are the number-one source of carbon emissions. In effect, Tesla and other electric-vehicle makers have done something
clever and appealing: They have replaced carbon emissions you can see
with carbon emissions you can’t see, at least not coming out of the
tailpipe. In fact, if your electric vehicle is charged with electricity
from a coal-fired power plant, it is estimated to emit 15 ounces of
carbon per mile, a full 3 ounces per mile more than a similar
gasoline-powered vehicle. But that’s just the beginning. Under the hood you’ll also find the
wonderful, innovative lithium batteries that Teslas rely on to hold
their charge. In 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency described
these batteries as having the “highest potential for environmental
impacts,” with lithium mining resulting in greenhouse-gas emissions,
environmental pollution, and human-health impacts.
No comments:
Post a Comment