this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
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Climate
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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
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How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
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Is that clear? What I’ve heard (and believe) is that keeping your old clunker is the most environmentally friendly thing to do. If you don’t think the environment begins and ends at the tailpipe, that is.
Well, the most environmentally friendly thing you can do is move to a walkable neighborhood, work from home, and ride a bicycle to drop the kids off at school.
People want to vote with their dollars and feel smug without doing any research or making any compromises to their lifestyle, though.
How many 20plus year old cars do you see? People obviously are replacing them. And theres other reasons to replace old cars other than fuel economy such as safety improvements.
Where do you get “20 years?” And what does that matter? I mean, yeah, I do. Some prime mid-2000s Altimas with destroyed bumpers roll around my neighborhood.
The average lifespan of a car is 10 years. I buy 5-year-old cars and keep them for another five. If it’s undriveable, a scrap yard can part it out and keep similar cars on the road longer.
I notice you conveniently ignored the points I made about things that would actually be good for the environment. Your EV isn’t reducing all the other harmful effects of driving aside from carbon dioxide, and even that’s not a clean win.
10 years sounds shockingly short. My impression is that the average car lasts about 20 years. Lots of older cars still on the road.
Great.