Ford Faces EV Challenge–Climate Crisis AM Edition 4/4/2024
The US car industry faces another challenge from China. BYD, one of the world’s largest EV companies, will launch a pickup. Pickups are the top-selling vehicles in the US. Ford already has an EV pickup, the F-150 Lightning. Its rivals, the Ram and GM’s Chevy Silverado, will have EV models next year. According to CNBC, BYD has not announced a price. Climatecrisis247 believes this is another problem for US car companies. BYD cannot sell its products in the US–yet. Full-sized pickups are among the most profitable vehicles in the American car company market. They would be a logical target for any company that wants to be profitable in the US.
EV News –Cheap Models On Sale
Hurricanes –The Worst Season Ever?
Environment-friendly leaders in Brazil and Columbia have helped reduce logging in the Amazon basin. This logging has resulted in the loss of a huge number of square miles of trees. Carbon is stored under the trees, and as loggers cut them down, billions of tons of carbon are released into the atmosphere. Some areas where trees have been cut down for cattle ranching are major sources of methane emissions. According to the BBC, “In 2023, the tropics saw 3.7 million hectares of forest lost – equivalent to 10 football fields per minute, a slight decline on last year. These losses would have been far higher if it wasn’t for Brazil and Colombia. According to this new analysis, political action in both countries has had a significant impact on tree felling.” Climatecrisis247 believes that while the political action in the countries has helped slow logging, it has increased elsewhere. Another problem is that Canadian wildfires have significantly reduced the total size of forests worldwide.
Nuclear Power’s Future
The United States Government Accountability Office issued a report titled “NRC Should Take Actions to Fully Consider the Potential Effects of Climate Change” (NRC stands for Nuclear Regulatory Commission). Among the conclusions, “However, NRC’s actions to address risks from natural hazards do not fully consider potential climate change effects. For example, NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data.” Climatecrisis247 believes that the conclusions are ironic. New, advanced technology nuclear plants are needed to help offset the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation. Without them, the traditional means of creating electricity continue to damage the climate.
Big Oil Goes To Court
There are 32 climate suits against fossil fuel companies for polluting the environment while hiding their awareness of the effects of oil and coal. Stateline states, “The lawsuits cite extensive news reporting — including investigations by the Los Angeles Times and Inside Climate News — showing oil companies’ own research projected the dangers of climate change decades ago, even as the industry tried to undermine scientific consensus about the crisis.” Climatecrisis247 believes these suits may be challenging to win. Unlike the suits against Big Tobacco, it is hard to prove how individuals have been harmed directly by fossil fuel companies. Therefore, it is hard to prove damages.
