Elon Musk says humanity is currently running 'the dumbest experiment in history

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'm sure you can come up with 7 links and 4 polls that unequivocally prove that trucks, Hummers and other gas-guzzlers are actually good for the environment.

You might be able to, don't particularly care.  More importantly, the idea that electric cars don't have major impacts against the environment are often not factored in....that's the bigger point.

Now, basic science...do plant organisms need carbon or not?  I'm happy to do my part.

[Tugg Speedman]

I'm sure you can come up with 7 links and 4 polls that unequivocally prove that trucks, Hummers and other gas-guzzlers are actually good for the environment.

The Hummer H2, the car everyone likes to malign, halted production in 2009



Year    Sales
2002    18,861
2003    34,529
2004    29,898
2005    33,140
2006    17,472
2007    12,431
2008    6,095
2009   600

The Hummer H3 stopped production in May 2010. 



Year    Sales
2005    33,140
2006    54,052
2007    43,431
2008    20,681
2009    5,487

The H2 gets about 10 MPG
The H3 gets about 15 MPG

If you waved a wand and took all the hummers and other gas guzzlers off the road, and replaced them with 25 to 30 MPG minivans (assuming the owners need large vehicles), you have changed .... absolutely nothing.  Traffic is completely unchanged because the number of vehicles is the same.  The saving is gas and pollution is so small, compared to the universe of cars, that it is not measurable.

-----------------

Now if you want to make a difference in pollution, traffic and cars, their is a way that can be huge and it could happen relatively quickly.

20% of all gas burned in the US is cars going 0 MPH.  Sitting idling in traffic of at stop lights.  These 0MPH also the result of poorly designed traffic flows and the congestion that comes from it.

Much of this can be laid at the foot of incompetent city managers and their departments of transportation that do a criminally bad job of fixing traffic flow.

Blame your Mayor/Governor, not the driver, the type of car they use of the reason for using their car.

The next time you're in a big city stuck in traffic, or confusing construction zones that snarl city traffic, and you see hundreds of cars sitting wasting gas and time, frustrating the drivers.  Remember that big city Mayor is a liberal democrat, he does not care about the waste of those resources and he is doing more for "big oil" and increasing their profits than Dick Cheney's biggest wet dream.

Rahm Emanuel, and it criminally incompetent CDOT (Chicago Dept. of Transportation), are making more money for Exxon than its CEO could ever dream of.  Drive around Chicago for 10 minutes any afternoon and you'll quickly see why.

Some Big Oil company should send Rahm a stuffed Caribu head for his office as a thank you for them hitting their quarterly numbers.

[MU82]

The Hummer H2, the car everyone likes to malign, halted production in 2009 ...

In the end, capitalism spoke. The H2 and H3 no longer exists because nobody wanted to buy them, as your numbers so aptly showed.

All I asked was if Chicos was hypothesizing that Hummers actually improved the environment. But thanks for your screed about whatever it was about.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The more important question is whether these current electric cars are helping the environment....

[4everwarriors]

I still like Hummers, hey?

[Benny B]

I still like Hummers, hey?

If you have to ask the question, I'm not sure the answer makes any difference.

[Galway Eagle]

The more important question is whether these current electric cars are helping the environment....

There's more than enough other sources for the carbon plants need. We all know that you can have too much of a good thing.

Also as plants are diminishing we don't quite need as much carbon out there as you seem to want to put out.

[mu03eng]

If you look at the total environmental footprint electric cars are barely less pollutant than gas vehicles.  You have the extraction of lithium and other rare earth metals that are very toxic introduce all sorts of issues in the environment, and making an electric car is more energy intensive than making a standard vehicle.  Additionally, the carbon footprint of energy generation within the US(fuel extraction to transportation to powerplant use) is barely better than the process of oil extraction.

Having said all that, moving to electric vehicles is a goal that we should be aiming for, as we can find new technologies around batteries as well as generation.  But using the environmental argument at this point in time is not a winning argument.

[mu03eng]

I don't get the climate debate at all.

Scientific fact A: carbon content in the atmosphere is higher than at any point in human history
Scientific fact B: the global temperature is increasing which has both positive and negative impacts on the population (seemingly more negative than positive)
Scientific fact C: humans are contributing a significant portion of the carbon content that is making its way into the environment

Scientific theory 1:  Science fact B is caused by Science fact A
Scientific theory 2:  If we reduce science fact C that will reduce science fact A which in turn impacts science fact C

If we took a cool, calm and collected path towards reducing scientific fact A, what is the harm?  I guess I sit in the middle here, I don't think we should crush economies on our way to reduced carbon content but there should be a way to reduce it and produce a positive economic impact.

The only argument against reducing carbon content is seemingly you can't prove that will reduce global warming/climate change.

[ChicosBailBonds]

There's more than enough other sources for the carbon plants need. We all know that you can have too much of a good thing.

Also as plants are diminishing we don't quite need as much carbon out there as you seem to want to put out.

That may be true, but is that what the science is saying?   Not only are they absorbing CO2 at rates higher than science thought (LOL), but they are thriving in the process.

Food production up, etc.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/globalwarming/11159926/Global-warming-plants-may-absorb-more-carbon-dioxide-than-previously-thought.html

[Galway Eagle]

That may be true, but is that what the science is saying?   Not only are they absorbing CO2 at rates higher than science thought (LOL), but they are thriving in the process.

Food production up, etc.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/globalwarming/11159926/Global-warming-plants-may-absorb-more-carbon-dioxide-than-previously-thought.html

"Global warming may not be damaging the Earth as quickly as feared after scientists found that plants can soak up more carbon dioxide than previously thought."

Ok so by being stubborn and driving a truck you're affecting your great grandkids instead of your kids congrats.

Also what plants are thriving because last time I checked there's been a corn and avocado shortage. And so the next time I wanna get avocado on my burrito and its 25cents not 10 I'm going to blame you.

[Benny B]

"Global warming may not be damaging the Earth as quickly as feared after scientists found that plants can soak up more carbon dioxide than previously thought."

Ok so by being stubborn and driving a truck you're affecting your great grandkids instead of your kids congrats.

Also what plants are thriving because last time I checked there's been a corn and avocado shortage. And so the next time I wanna get avocado on my burrito and its 25cents not 10 I'm going to blame you.

Corn shortage is primarily due to ethanol production; avocado shortage is because of rising demand.  Neither are directly related to global warming unless hot weather causes people to add guacamole to their $5 footlong.

[Galway Eagle]

Corn shortage is primarily due to ethanol production; avocado shortage is because of rising demand.  Neither are directly related to global warming unless hot weather causes people to add guacamole to their $5 footlong.

Interesting thank you.

[mu03eng]

Corn shortage is primarily due to ethanol production; avocado shortage is because of rising demand.  Neither are directly related to global warming unless hot weather causes people to add guacamole to their $5 footlong.

Ethanol is the greatest boondoggle in environmental history and the main reason we need to find a way to eliminate Iowa as the first primary state.

Ethanol, in total, is far more damaging than helpful in environmental affairs.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Corn shortage is primarily due to ethanol production; avocado shortage is because of rising demand.  Neither are directly related to global warming unless hot weather causes people to add guacamole to their $5 footlong.

Although, thanks to global warming I've been able to grow an avocado tree and a crape myrtle in my backyard in Connecticut.

(With the caveat that I drag the avocado into the garage in the winter.)

[Benny B]

Ethanol is the greatest boondoggle in environmental history and the main reason we need to find a way to eliminate Iowa as the first primary state.

Ethanol, in total, is far more damaging than helpful in environmental affairs.

Minor distinction... Iowa has a caucus, not a primary.  Nevertheless, I agree.  There are over 250 billion reasons that Iowa should not wield the influence it has in national politics... reason #1 is that we spend $100 billion more on farm subsidies every year than we do on military personnel ($255B vs. $155B).

[ChicosBailBonds]

"Global warming may not be damaging the Earth as quickly as feared after scientists found that plants can soak up more carbon dioxide than previously thought."

Ok so by being stubborn and driving a truck you're affecting your great grandkids instead of your kids congrats.

Also what plants are thriving because last time I checked there's been a corn and avocado shortage. And so the next time I wanna get avocado on my burrito and its 25cents not 10 I'm going to blame you.

So you're picking two food items?  Avocados a plenty out here...including the tree in my backyard.

My grreat grandkids are screwed with the liberal socialist policies anyway, so I'm doing them a favor.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Minor distinction... Iowa has a caucus, not a primary.  Nevertheless, I agree.  There are over 250 billion reasons that Iowa should not wield the influence it has in national politics... reason #1 is that we spend $100 billion more on farm subsidies every year than we do on military personnel ($255B vs. $155B).

Amen