Electric Vehicles
Dear Editor: Friday, April 22 marked the 47th Earth Day. So let’s take a moment to reflect on what we can do to protect our planet and reduce emissions.
Did you know that in the U.S., an average person accounts for almost 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year? With over 300 million people in our country, that adds up to 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted each year (source: EPA 2016).
These numbers may seem daunting, and you may ask “what can I do?”, or “why should I bother?”
The truth is, there is a lot that you can do to reduce your carbon dioxide footprint. Did you know that the average car in the U.S. emits more than 5 tons of CO2 each year? Assuming that the average Sitkan drives maybe half this amount, a good “ballpark” estimate is that Sitka cars each emit 2-3 tons of CO2 per year under normal driving.
You can reduce your personal CO2 emissions substantially by considering buying an electric vehicle (EV). EVs have no tailpipe emissions, and here in Sitka our electricity is all renewable hydropower (unlike many locations down south that generate electricity using polluting coal power).
There are currently close to 10 EVs in Sitka- up dramatically from even a year ago. Even this small number of cars is avoiding 20-30 tons of CO2 each year. Just think what Sitka would be like with a large number of EVs, all helping the environment with each mile driven- the electricity is available and just waiting to be used. Did you know that pre-owned EVs are readily available down south in the $10,000 price range (plus about $1,000 for shipping)? And, our electric “fuel” here in Sitka is still cheaper than gasoline, even with falling gas prices and rising electric rates.
It was good to see so many people interested in EVs at the Earth Day celebration last Friday afternoon at the Sitka Sound science center. If this topic interests you please stay tuned for upcoming meetings of the Sitka EV group.
Dave Nicholls, Sitka
