‘Devastating’ cost of EV industry takes center stage in two news stories this week

Toxic plumes and neon orange bodies of water are quite an ironic legacy for “clean” and “green” energy—how anyone can miss a paradox that in-your-face is beyond me (but that’s beside the point).

Two stories out this week highlighted the growing concern over the “reckless” transition to the globalists’ vision of the energy industry: the first questioned whether or not public services were “equipped” to handle the unique “challenges and risks” posed when electric vehicle batteries catch fire, while the second covered a brand-new study published yesterday by Science Magazine, one of the world’s most prestigious, longstanding, and recognized academic journals (it first entered circulation almost 150 years ago).

Amid the rapid acceptance of and transition to rechargeable vehicles, Roselyne Min at Euronews posed this query: “are we prepared to tackle the fire risks of battery vehicles?” From Min’s article, published two days ago:

London Fire Brigade this summer named e-bikes as the city’s fastest-growing fire trend with 123 fires associated with e-bikes and e-scooters, a record-high number.

Unlike traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, EVs and hybrid cars are powered by lithium-ion batteries which, according to experts, pose different challenges and risks.

One of the known hazards in these kinds of batteries is ‘thermal runaway,’ a rapid increase in temperature that leads to fires that are hard to extinguish.

Fire in EVs can start a while after a crash, for example, and can spontaneously re-ignite.

They also produce a toxic gas called hydrogen fluoride when burning. Exposure to hydrogen fluoride can be an additional risk even with protective clothing, experts say.

Snuffing out fires caused by lithium batteries can take thousands of gallons of water, much more than the volume required to stop a gasoline car fire.

According to the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services, extinguishing a burning tesla can take as much as 40,000 gallons of water.

40,000 gallons? I did some quick math, and on average, a kitchen faucet pours out 1.5 gallons per minute—that means extinguishing one car fire uses as much water as your kitchen sink running nonstop for about 19 days straight. I don’t want to hear “green” politicians lecture me about waste ever again.

Min only notes that the “fastest-growing fire trend” is associated with e-bikes and scooters, but it’s worth stating that it’s not because e-bikes and scooters are inherently more dangerous; rather they’re just far cheaper than a car (meaning more regular people can purchase them), and this statistic comes from London, a city rife with traffic congestion and commuting issues. So, we can rightfully infer that the more accurate statement is the “fastest-growing fire trend” is E.V. batteries. (The toxic plume of hydrogen fluoride was news to me, but all the more reason to fight this agenda tooth and nail.)

Of course as we all know, the public sector is not equipped to handle the additional risks, and furthermore, given the costs (tax dollars, collateral damage, environmental devastation), the citizenry should not be forced to pay the price for what is at best, political foolhardiness, and at worst, global communism.

Yesterday, Daily Mail published journalist Matthew Phelan’s report on the findings of new study just announced in Science; see Phelan’s headline below:

From Phelans article:

Tens of millions of people — more than live in the entire state of Florida — are now exposed to toxic water runoff from metal mining, a new study has found.

The report lays bare the devastating impacts that can follow a reckless transition to ‘green’ energy, compounding the ecological damage wrought by over 150 years of drilling and mining for fossil fuels.

The researchers found that 23 million people worldwide, as well as 5.72 million in livestock, over 16 million acres of irrigated farmland and over 297,800 miles worth of rivers have been contaminated by mining’s toxic byproducts seeping into the water.

This metal mining includes many so-called 'rare earth elements' essential to the manufacture of high-tech electronics, solar cells, wind turbines and all the batteries needed to store sustainable 'green' energy (and power electric cars and iPhones).

The devastation wrought by this contamination, they found, was widespread, affecting approximately 297,800 miles (479,200 km) of river systems total and over 63,000 square-miles (164,000 sq-km) of floodplains worldwide.

But, North America stood out as the most affected, at 123,280 miles of tainted river systems, and approximately 10.7 million acres of polluted floodplains.

(Let it be known, both Phelan and the researchers appear to be anti-oil, but seemingly support a “smarter” phase-out.)

Now, there’s a part of me that can respect a diehard environmentalist—my faith teaches me to be a good steward, and my conservative political views foster a desire to morally and efficiently conserve the natural beauty of the world. However, in my opinion, there’s not much worse than those who simply assume the “greenie” identity because they like the virtue points, but are too willfully ignorant to grasp how asinine and destructive the political green agenda is, failing to realize they’re just the perfect useful idiot for communistic overlords.

Image: Gustavo Veríssimo from Setúbal, Portugal, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.

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