Skip navigation
Great Expectations
Podcast

Great Expectations

On The Media, 2023


Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Eloquent
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

By repeating the mistakes of the past by simply replacing dirty technologies with less polluting alternatives, we miss out on the real promise of evolving into a carbon-neutral society. Electric vehicles are touted as a guilt-free choice to reach a zero-emission future, but the types of vehicles and how we incorporate them into our daily lives – or live without them – will play a big role in how much of an improvement they will be. On the Media podcast host Brooke Gladstone and tech expert Paris Marx explore how the current rise in the production of electric SUVs might not be the panacea for the challenges of climate change.

Summary

Electric cars are not the sole solution to the climate crisis.

Electric vehicles (EVs) seem to be on a home run. In 2022, EV sales shot up by 68% compared to 2021, and New York and California will effectively ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. So, problems solved, conscience cleared?

Not quite. EVs cause significant pollution. But while gas-powered cars emit most of their emissions while we use them, the lion’s share of EVs pollution occurs during production: Lithium, cobalt, graphite and many more rare minerals go into making batteries. Depending on the specifics of an electric car, you have to drive it for many miles before seeing an improvement in environmental impact. If you don’t drive a lot, it may make more environmental sense to keep your combustion-powered car going until the bitter end than to go electric.

The flaky promises of bogus technologies have undermined public transportation projects...

About the Podcast

Brooke Gladstone hosts the WNYC radio show and podcast On the Media. Guest Paris Marx is host of the podcast Tech Won’t Save Us and author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation.