Climate Deniers Take Control–Climate Crisis AM 3/26/24
Reuters reports that Tesla will offer one free month of its assisted driving technology. The feature can add as much as $12,000 to the price of a new Tesla vehicle. Elon Muck, Tesla’s CEO, posted on X that “All U.S. cars that are capable of FSD will be enabled for a one-month trial this week.” FDS stands for Full Self-Driving. The technology has been blamed for several accidents, although many, if not all, drivers were operating their vehicles outside the company’s rules for using the feature. Climatecrisis247 views this as an intelligent way for Tesla to increase market share and get customers to upgrade to a profitable feature. It also shows Tesla’s confidence in the technology. This could help Tesla, which had about 50% of the EV market in the US last year and is in a highly competitive EV market. The $12,000 price may be a barrier to sales. Offering it for free avoids that issue.
EV Trouble –Tires Don’t Last
America’s Climate Friendly City –Detroit?
One of the small EV companies that has been in trouble for months will be delisted by the NYSE. Fisker will likely go under completely. It announced it would stop building vehicles. The company recently released a statement saying, “We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.” Climatecrisis247 views the Fisker problem as the first of several undercapitalized EV companies likely to go under soon. These include Lucid and Rivian. The market has too many players, some of which are huge and well-capitalized. Among them are Ford, BMW, and Porsche.
AI Electricity
AI’s colossal electricity consumption has become a growing problem. This has been made more difficult by the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining. Each’s requirements may mean they will start to compete with residential and commercial electricity supplies. Semafor spoke to Arshad Mansoor, the CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute. He commented, “The month that ChatGPT was released was a pivotal month for the energy industry. That resulted in a frantic effort by all the people who are involved in the AI business, that whoever gets the infrastructure built first is going to win the race.” Climatecrisis247 considers this an issue that may require public regulation and, therefore, a political battle. Many AI companies have large sums of money to buy electricity and lobby for a large share of output from major utilities. Alternatively, AI businesses may locate their technology outside the US in areas where energy is more abundant. The problems also point out the severe limitations of America’s aging electricity grid.
Climate Deniers In Florida
Several politicians in Florida have decided to avoid acknowledging that climate change is an issue that requires regulation. According to Grist, “A bill awaiting signature from Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January, would ban offshore wind energy, relax regulations on natural gas pipelines, and delete the majority of mentions of climate change from existing state laws.” Climatecrisis247 views this as part of the broader political landscape. There are climate deniers at every level of government, including in Congress. If Donald Trump becomes President, the problem could get much worse.
