You are one of the fortunate/responsible ones who can generate your own solar, so you qualify for the escape clause. You're part of that ten percent of electric power that doesn't come from fossil fuels & fission. For that, you are to be thanked.
But for most Americans, they get that 50 mpg and think they're using less oil and producing less greenhouse gasses. But in reality, to get that kind of mileage, they've just replaced using gasoline with using electricity generated by burning coal, oil, or nat gas.
So whether Prius drivers made an effective environmental choice depends on where their electricity comes from, and I still think the vast majority of them never thought that through.
One friend on FB did make the following point, tho. While most Prius' still run on electricity generated by fossil fuels, they *are* set up to automatically take advantage of any positive changes in how our electricity is generated. So if our major public utilities successfully transition to more environmentally friendly generation, you hybrid/electric owners will already be one step ahead of people who still operate conventional gas-guzzlers.
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Date: 2010-07-20 01:08 pm (UTC)But for most Americans, they get that 50 mpg and think they're using less oil and producing less greenhouse gasses. But in reality, to get that kind of mileage, they've just replaced using gasoline with using electricity generated by burning coal, oil, or nat gas.
So whether Prius drivers made an effective environmental choice depends on where their electricity comes from, and I still think the vast majority of them never thought that through.
One friend on FB did make the following point, tho. While most Prius' still run on electricity generated by fossil fuels, they *are* set up to automatically take advantage of any positive changes in how our electricity is generated. So if our major public utilities successfully transition to more environmentally friendly generation, you hybrid/electric owners will already be one step ahead of people who still operate conventional gas-guzzlers.