Memes

Without going into too much detail and doxxing myself, this industry is my day job. The North American automakers are pretty agnostic when it comes to power train energy sources. The problem is that they are also aware of what sells. North America is still in love with trucks and SUVs, and without subsidies and incentives, the return on investment for converting those production lines simply wasn't there. And they are not anywhere near ideological enough to persist with the conversation anyway.

The other problem is Trump himself. Actual investment by the automakers has fallen off a cliff ever since the tariffs started swinging back and forth. There's nothing big business hates more than instability, so I'm guessing that the automakers are going to continue sitting on their hands, investing as little as possible until whatever administration comes next.

That probably factors into it too. The automakers have always preferred to have strong control over their suppliers, and doubly so after they played themselves with the chip makers during the pandemic. Battery plants take time to bring online, and unfortunately Trump's bullshit kicked into high gear just as capacity was coming online, giving everyone cold feet.

Ohhh, I forgot that he had multiple.. what a scumbag.

Gas burns cleaner than coal, but almost nothing burns 100% clean. Nor is any fuel source 100% pure.

Hold a lighter up to some tinfoil. See the soot?

Natural gas still causes pollution, just less than coal.

I grew up with natural gas, and if you didn't turn on the hood it would get nasty inside. It also made our pots and pans turn black during long cooking sessions.

Here's more info: https://www.psehealthyenergy.org/gas-stoves-and-indoor-air-pollution-explained/

A 2024 study from Stanford and PSE Healthy Energy scientists estimates the annual societal cost of NO2 exposure from gas and propane stoves is $1 billion. Burning natural gas and propane has also been shown to generate benzene, a known human carcinogen. A 2023 study from Stanford and PSE Healthy Energy scientists found that a single gas cooktop burner on high could raise indoor levels of benzene above those in secondhand tobacco smoke.

And that's just from indoor stoves.

The primary component of natural gas is methane. Methane is a colorless, odorless, and highly combustible gas. It is also a powerful climate pollutant. In addition to methane, natural gas contains pollutants which are known to be toxic, linked to cancer, and can form secondary health-damaging pollutants that may impact air quality and human health.

That was part of the natural gas grift: because it's slightly better than coal, and it has natural in the name, it must be clean! It fooled a lot of people, unfortunately and understandably.