Published in El Pais, 9 October 2021.
When we talk about electric cars, the first reason why we have to buy it is for the environment. Traditional cars emit carbon dioxide which, supposedly causes climate change. In addition, these vehicles use a large amount of fossil fuels such as gas and oil that at some point run out and whose production is very polluting. Well, there are enough reasons to buy an electric car. However, the price is very high, the battery is not always enough for a long trip. Recharging it when you are away from home, is often a problem and maintenance requires another type of knowledge. There are plenty more reasons to wait a while. But do we have the luxury of waiting as a society?
Many people also have their doubts if all this climate change is as serious as they predict. Anyway, it is thought that this may last a good while longer until it really becomes a serious problem. For those people, I present one more reason. The health aspect.
Many times, analyses to use sustainable energy only focus on the effect of possible climate change and not on the health aspect. Here in holland, 60% of the population lives below sea level, protected by dikes. The risk of drowning when sea levels rise will be accompanied by storms can be said to be a health risk, but I’m not talking about this. We talk about the real, proven and confirmed risks to health.
Carbon dioxide is not dangerous to health, as long as you ventilate your house enough nothing happens. But combustion engines dump many other toxic gases and dusts that are immediately dangerous to health. It is already proven that people who live in a congested city or near a highway breathe in many toxins that have a significant negative effect on their health. According to data from the World Health Organization, each year more than 7 million people die from air pollution that causes respiratory problems, asthma, cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some of this is caused by cars.
If we include the lives lost and health costs, the value of an electric car and all sustainable energy is higher. With a good subsidy system, we would all pay, and we would all benefit from better health, less health spending, and premature deaths. And as a bonus we would control climate change.
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