Study: US could save up to $70 billion annually if EVs were widespread

ChasingCoral

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https://www.greencarreports.com/new...to-70-billion-annually-if-evs-were-widespread

Study: US could save up to $70 billion annually if EVs were widespread
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STEPHEN EDELSTEIN AUGUST 18, 2020


Electric cars don't just save the environment, they also save lots of money, according to a new Northwestern University study.

The United States could save up to $70 billion annually if electric cars replaced 75% of current internal-combustion cars, and were paired with increased renewable-energy electricity generation, the study found.

Even if electric cars only replaced 25% of internal-combustion cars, that would still save $17 billion annually by reducing the negative impact of climate change and air pollution, according to the study.

"Vehicle electrification in the United States could prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths annually while reducing carbon emissions by hundreds of millions of tons," Daniel Peters, who led the study, said in a statement. "This highlights the potential of co-beneficial solutions to climate change that not only curb greenhouse gas emissions but also reduce the health burden of harmful air pollution."

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2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Previous studies have noted the public-health benefit of reduced air pollution, with one study published in April specifically linking pollution produced by vehicle exhaust to higher COVID-19 death rates.

The Northwestern study further emphasizes that point with its cost-savings estimates.

The EPA lowered fuel economy and emission standards and rejected higher standards for soot and particulate matter earlier this year.

In contrast, Democrats' climate plan would save 60,000 lives per year by 2050 through reduced air pollution, and save nearly $8 trillion through health and climate benefits over the same period. Democrats will need to win control of the White House and Senate in the November elections to put that plan into action, however.
 

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Free market capitalism works pretty well with the notable exception of failing to price in all the relevant externalities. While all externalities can't be perfectly priced in, the system still works more efficiently when reasonable attempts are made to make sure some are not free-loading on the system. Taken to the extreme, situations like the following can happen:

There is no EPA or emissions rules. So almost all cars run on leaded fuel. Because lead in the gas saves the expense of hardening valve seats. So the car is cheaper. Untold millions of children's mental development is negatively impacted. IQ scores are lower, cancer rates are spiking, yet people deny it's a problem.

Oh, wait...that actually happened.

Currently many states have implemented an EV registration tax to replace lost road taxes built into gas prices. I don't have a problem with that as long as gas taxes also include a hospital/medical tax to account for all the additional healthcare that EV's avoid. Lacking that, EV's should be able to avoid road taxes (at least until EV's pass a certain percentage threshold of adoption). The fossil fuel industry has huge tax breaks most people are unaware of. It's billions of tax dollars directly subsidizing oil and gas. Yet the same people complain about renewable energy subsidies that are far smaller. It makes no sense until you realize the level of ignorance most people have when they form opinions. And ignorance is no way to run a society if you want one that encourages healthy, happy, productive lives. edit: Oh, and prosperous lives. Look how much money we are throwing away by not pricing in these known externalities.
 

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Free market capitalism works pretty well with the notable exception of failing to price in all the relevant externalities. While all externalities can't be perfectly priced in, the system still works more efficiently when reasonable attempts are made to make sure some are not free-loading on the system. Taken to the extreme, situations like the following can happen:

There is no EPA or emissions rules. So almost all cars run on leaded fuel. Because lead in the gas saves the expense of hardening valve seats. So the car is cheaper. Untold millions of children's mental development is negatively impacted. IQ scores are lower, cancer rates are spiking, yet people deny it's a problem.

Oh, wait...that actually happened.

Currently many states have implemented an EV registration tax to replace lost road taxes built into gas prices. I don't have a problem with that as long as gas taxes also include a hospital/medical tax to account for all the additional healthcare that EV's avoid. Lacking that, EV's should be able to avoid road taxes (at least until EV's pass a certain percentage threshold of adoption). The fossil fuel industry has huge tax breaks most people are unaware of. It's billions of tax dollars directly subsidizing oil and gas. Yet the same people complain about renewable energy subsidies that are far smaller. It makes no sense until you realize the level of ignorance most people have when they form opinions. And ignorance is no way to run a society if you want one that encourages healthy, happy, productive lives. edit: Oh, and prosperous lives. Look how much money we are throwing away by not pricing in these known externalities.
It's more insidious than just ignorance: as with the overt campaign employing Robert Kehoe to falsely espouse "the insignificant environmental impact of lead in gasoline", the API is actively funding a huge disinformation campaign regarding CO2 emissions and fracking/drilling pollutants. Hell, they've got some people convinced that the environmental impact of producing a solar panel is larger than the impact of extracting 80,000 cubic feet of natural gas (and the 5 tons of CO2 produced from burning it) that the panel displaces over its 25 year lifespan.
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