2023-06-02
25 分钟This is in conversation from Apple News.
I'm Shemitah Basu.
Today, the ugly truth about electric vehicles.
There's a lot of interest in electric vehicles right now.
More charging stations are being built.
There's new federal tax credits to make buying an EV more affordable.
And we're seeing more options hit the market with significantly lower lifetime emissions costs and maintenance needed compared to traditional gas powered cars.
Climate scientists say making the switch from a gas powered car to an EV is one of the best ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, warming the planet.
But going green doesn't necessarily mean they're totally clean.
There's a lot of greenwashing going on as consumers try to navigate what an EV is, the extent to which it is helping the environment.
Evan Halper is with the Washington Post.
He and a team of colleagues recently created a series called Clean Hidden Toll.
It's sort of a buyer's guide to EVs.
But what makes it especially thorough is the original reporting they've done on the human and environmental costs of the electric vehicle revolution.
It's important that there's some accountability for the manufacturers, for governments on what exactly are we doing as we create this whole new industry.
Are we making the same mistakes that have been made in the past?
And there's human consequen to those mistakes.
The Post's team traveled around the world to places where minerals are sourced to make EV batteries.
Because while EVs don't need gas, they do need about six times more minerals by weight than a conventional vehicle for the roughly 1,000 pound battery block powering them.
In their reporting about what it takes to get those minerals, Post reporters describe forced labor, co opted indigenous land, toxic waste and environmental spills, and in some cases lots of emissions from coal powered refineries.