Where Does Pollution Come From?
Business and industry used to be the main source of air pollution, but regulated and voluntary efforts have greatly reduced pollution from these sources. The bulk of todayˇ¦s air pollution is actually a result of our individual activities - exhaust from vehicles, yard and recreational equipment, and smoke from our chimneys and burn piles.Who Killed the Electric Car?
The film explores some of the reasons that the auto and oil industries worked to kill off the electric car. Wally Rippel is shown explaining that the oil companies were afraid of losing out on trillions in potential profit from their transportation fuel monopoly over the coming decades, while the auto companies were afraid of losses over the next six months of EV production.Isn't an electric car simply trading a tailpipe for a smokestack? What about pollution from the power plants?
Electric cars that run on renewable wind or solar power eliminate emissions. But even today, with 50% of U.S. power coming from dirty coal plants, plug-in cars still reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and most other pollutants compared with either conventional gasoline cars or hybrids, because so much of it comes out of tailpipes.Real pollution of vehicles
Phil Karn pointed out that you can easily compare the numbers for California's electric, which is largely produced from Natural Gas (LA Dept. of Water and Power burns coal in Utah) with the pollution from burning gasoline. Strict comparison shows that from natural gas to an EV moving, compared with the gallon of gas just burning, the EV is 97% cleaner in terms of noxious pollutants.But even asssuming the electric is not produced from rooftop solar or natural gas, let's assume it comes 100% from COAL, it's STILL much cleaner than gasoline produced from petroleum!