[ExI] The Futurism of Elon Musk

[spike at rainier66.com]

> On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat
Subject: Re: [ExI] The Futurism of Elon Musk

 

On Sun, Sep 6, 2020 at 9:23 AM BillK via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org <mailto:extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> > wrote:

Where does this 'coal burner' term come from?????

 

>…It is a misleading (at best) term, referring to the fact that the national power grid includes input from coal-fired power plants, therefore incorrectly implying that everything powered from the grid is primarily powered by coal.  (Granted, coal, natural gas, and petroleum - in other words, all fossil fuels combined - are over 50%, but that's at least not just coal.)

 

>…This also overlooks the radical differences in efficiency and environmental effect between large power plants whose emissions can (at least in theory) be captured and stored (as opposed to being released into city or wilderness areas), versus lots of small internal combustion engines that have no practical choice but to dump their emissions at the point of use (along the roads that go right through populated areas)…

 

 

 

Hi Adrian,

 

Granted, and I do not wish to speak disparagingly of electric vehicles.  I like them and benefit from them even if I do not own one.  The young hot-asses who would otherwise be driving loud annoying cars get those rigs and whir around quietly.  Noise pollution is reduced, suburban environments improved, people are more careful about crossing streets against the walk light (because EVs are harder to hear.)  More importantly, my power rates go down.  Eventually a lot of people who drive EEVs install Power Walls, then their houses are worth more, which makes mine worth more (hey, it’s a comparable (ask your real estate guy.))

 

I noticed they quietly stopped putting the Zero Emissions Vehicle plate on there, for until we get nukes going in bigger numbers, they are more accurately called Emissions Elsewhere Vehicles.

 

However… we still win on that deal because the presence of EEVs incentivizes nuclear plants.  Nuclear plants are the cleanest and most environmentally friendly form of power generation (assuming they don’t explode and send deadly radioactive clouds over thousands of square miles.)  If we get more nuke plants, the EEVs really do reduce the carbon footprint.

 

At some point it is impossible to deny: humans are fouling our own nest.  There is no going back to the olden days: we were doing that back then too.  There were fewer of us then, but we were.

 

As for buying one, I will leave that to my dentist and my hedge-fund neighbor for now.

 

spike

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