The Future is Now?
The Spanish government announced this week that in 2040, just a little over twenty years from now, no diesel nor gasoline cars would be manufactured, and that by 2050 they will not be allowed to wander the roads. All in the name of climate change.
On the one hand, I consider it admirable. It probably won't be enough to slow down climate change, but it's a start. Fossil fuels will still be used in places other than cars. But, it's a beginning, an incentive. What I find inadmissable, however, is the lack of planning. There was no mention of federal grants to research and development on more autonomous, cheaper car batteries, nor mention of how the population is going to be able to afford buying new electric cars to replace the ones they have and need. There was also no mention on re-educating workers in the car industry, nor of replacement jobs, since electric cars apparently need fewer workers to mount. And there was no mention of increasing public transport fueled by clean energies.
So, unless they are thinking up strategies they still haven't told us anything about, it's a bit like a chimera. Or, a think-as-you-go-and-hope-things-turn-out-for-the-best stumbling way of making public policy. Yes, we need to change the fossil fuel chip. We need to wean ourselves away from that. But today's electric cars only average around three hundred kilometers autonomy before the battery says, "I'm done." And then it takes from six to eight hours to fully recharge it. Not that there are many places to recharge, either. A trip to Madrid would take two days by car, rather than the almost six hours it does now. Cars would not be an option for long trips. But there aren't enough trains or planes doing those trips. And, sometimes, cars are necessary. Imagine you have to drive to Madrid for business and stop along the way in a couple of cities, such as Salamanca, or Zamora. It would take too long by train, as you stop and then wait for another, or change lines.
Electric cars are also expensive. They run over thirty thousand euros. Half the population can't afford one, whether paying it in full, or financing it. Most households need at least two cars to have full mobility. Either prices need to come down very much, salaries go up very much, or the government give grants according to family income very much. Because the alternative of public transport is rare and incomplete. Our township has even cut down on bus routes. Now there are only two buses into town every morning, and none in the afternoon. The intercity bus also leaves wide swathes during the afternoon and morning with nary a bus. And if someone wants to go to a nearby town that's not on the direct bus route here, they have to get up very early, and make a few changes, with a considerable wait between buses. I think walking would get us to some of them faster, like when my parents were young, and they had no other choice of transport.
Many jobs would be lost, too. Some of the companies would probably downsize by then, and retiring workers would probably not be replaced. But what about those who will be too young to retire? There won't be room for all of them at an electric car plant. What of those in associated industries? Unless the government becomes serious about helping new industries open up in this country, and re-educating workers to be hired in them, unemployment will only increase. And, let's face it, there are only so many hotels or restaurants that can be opened. We're already up to our eyebrows in the tourist industry. We need serious, year-round industries, whether new or revamped.
So, yes, it's a good idea to stop relying so much on fossil fuels. But we need to carefully plan a whole new lifestyle, to make sure we can make the transition without leaving half the country behind. Just winging it isn't enough.
On the one hand, I consider it admirable. It probably won't be enough to slow down climate change, but it's a start. Fossil fuels will still be used in places other than cars. But, it's a beginning, an incentive. What I find inadmissable, however, is the lack of planning. There was no mention of federal grants to research and development on more autonomous, cheaper car batteries, nor mention of how the population is going to be able to afford buying new electric cars to replace the ones they have and need. There was also no mention on re-educating workers in the car industry, nor of replacement jobs, since electric cars apparently need fewer workers to mount. And there was no mention of increasing public transport fueled by clean energies.
So, unless they are thinking up strategies they still haven't told us anything about, it's a bit like a chimera. Or, a think-as-you-go-and-hope-things-turn-out-for-the-best stumbling way of making public policy. Yes, we need to change the fossil fuel chip. We need to wean ourselves away from that. But today's electric cars only average around three hundred kilometers autonomy before the battery says, "I'm done." And then it takes from six to eight hours to fully recharge it. Not that there are many places to recharge, either. A trip to Madrid would take two days by car, rather than the almost six hours it does now. Cars would not be an option for long trips. But there aren't enough trains or planes doing those trips. And, sometimes, cars are necessary. Imagine you have to drive to Madrid for business and stop along the way in a couple of cities, such as Salamanca, or Zamora. It would take too long by train, as you stop and then wait for another, or change lines.
Electric cars are also expensive. They run over thirty thousand euros. Half the population can't afford one, whether paying it in full, or financing it. Most households need at least two cars to have full mobility. Either prices need to come down very much, salaries go up very much, or the government give grants according to family income very much. Because the alternative of public transport is rare and incomplete. Our township has even cut down on bus routes. Now there are only two buses into town every morning, and none in the afternoon. The intercity bus also leaves wide swathes during the afternoon and morning with nary a bus. And if someone wants to go to a nearby town that's not on the direct bus route here, they have to get up very early, and make a few changes, with a considerable wait between buses. I think walking would get us to some of them faster, like when my parents were young, and they had no other choice of transport.
Many jobs would be lost, too. Some of the companies would probably downsize by then, and retiring workers would probably not be replaced. But what about those who will be too young to retire? There won't be room for all of them at an electric car plant. What of those in associated industries? Unless the government becomes serious about helping new industries open up in this country, and re-educating workers to be hired in them, unemployment will only increase. And, let's face it, there are only so many hotels or restaurants that can be opened. We're already up to our eyebrows in the tourist industry. We need serious, year-round industries, whether new or revamped.
So, yes, it's a good idea to stop relying so much on fossil fuels. But we need to carefully plan a whole new lifestyle, to make sure we can make the transition without leaving half the country behind. Just winging it isn't enough.
Totally agree...I'm not sure what's happening here in the Netherlands either, and they are usually quite good at planning ahead. By the way, we had a couple of years where older cars were not allowed in the big cities and it was forbidden to deliver fuel to our barges as well. They called the inner cities 'milieu zones', but they've had to abandon them as the plan was clearly not thought through.
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