The debate between electric and gas powered vehicles has continued to be more prominent as we struggle to improve the damage we’ve done to the environment. As we continue to improve and expand our technology, it is critical we keep the environment in check and make sure that we continue to keep a livable environment.
“I think electric cars are better for the environment, especially with Elon Musk building a solar powered facility to supply electricity to all the vehicles that he makes, plus electric cars are fun to drive because they feel like you’re in a rocket ship.” senior Ved Patel said
Gas powered cars can contribute to climate change because they burn an exceptional amount of gasoline that creates harmful products such as, carbon dioxide nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants into the atmosphere that contributes significantly to air pollution.
“I think that electric cars help reduce emissions but the production of the batteries is bad for the environment because of the materials used to make them,” said senior Luis Narvaez “I think in the future I would drive one because of gas economy and convenience, but at this point in time probably not unless it is one of the Lucid cars.”
Although gas powered cars have many flaws, so do electric cars. Electric cars take hours to charge and don’t run for as long as a typical reliable gas powered car. Electric cars also contribute significantly to destroying the earth because they encourage lithium mines. Lithium mines are an area of the earth that has been stripped over and over again and these mines can be as long as 18,000 acres and 400 feet deep. Lithium mines also release emissions into the atmosphere and take a lot of resources and water to actually mine into the earth.
Although both very different forms of transportation have negative effects on the environment, there are many ways we can improve the environment and eliminate our carbon footprint, for example we could start controlling our biodegradable household waste, using less water, and planting trees for the newer generation. We only have one earth.
