A new report shows that switching to electric cars could wreak havoc on the environment. Because all of that power has to come from somewhere, ya know!
Research from the Climate and Community Project and the University of California, Davis found that a switch to EVs would require three times more lithium than is currently produced in the world plus a heck of a lot more water and land because making electricity requires both.
Consider China, the world’s biggest EV car maker. Author Bjorn Lomborg says that “in Shanghai, pollution from an additional million electric-powered vehicles would kill nearly three times as many people annually as an additional million gasoline-powered cars” because EVs are powered by coal plants.
So how is the U.S. going to catch up its electricity for the EV switch? According to the report, they’re not. Instead, they’ll have to switch to mass transit and create more walkable towns and cities and increase battery recycling. Is it just me or is that not a great plan?
