70 per cent of EV data is made up

Are EVs as environmentally friendly as their proselytizers insist?

Evangelistic EV drivers tell me that as an academic, I should know better. They are unimpressed when I do not support their confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias is where we look for, and find, data that supports our beliefs. Nowhere is this more prolific than in trying to understand the comparative CO2 emissions produced in the manufacture of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE) versus electric vehicles (EV).

The comparison can help us to understand the whole-of-life carbon emissions of ICE versus EVs.

This morning's Spectator Australia Morning Double Shot newsletter read as follows:

Your scribe is writing from Gundagai, on a road trip from Melbourne to Sydney. For no real reason besides relieving boredom, I’ve taken to counting Teslas on my long drives, because aesthetically they’re very distinctive and easy to spot. Yesterday, between home and Gundagai I counted 99: on a similar trip late last year it was exactly 100 all the way between Sydney’s eastern suburbs and bayside Melbourne. The point of this nerdy observation is that a steadily-increasing number of people with more bucks than brains are channelling their green virtue signalling by buying EVs, convinced by the government-sponsored ballyhoo that they’re doing their bit for reducing carbon emissions. Michael de Percy, however, has been poring over EV-related data and concludes the claims for their greenness are overrated, inflated, or just made up, especially if one includes the humongous carbon emissions involved in their manufacture as well as operation.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, 70 per cent of EV data is made up.

70 per cent of EV data is made up | #NetZero
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Are these things really as green as politicians say they are?

It takes 15,000 tonnes of CO2 to mine 1,000 tonnes of lithium required for batteries. Reports indicate that building an #EV emits 80 per cent more CO2 than a… pic.twitter.com/cMJFMDbiJz

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) April 1, 2024

Woke is little more than Modern Communism

Alexandra Marshall Live, 2024 Season, Episode 7, discussing political ideologies 

I am working on a presentation on the Manifestation of Modern Communism. Alexandra asked me to talk about political ideologies, so this worked in well with my future presentation.

The link to the video is below:

I'm on Alexandra Marshall Live tonight discussing political ideologies and the manifestation of modern communism:https://t.co/C4b46C6hWL

— Le Flâneur Politique (@FlaneurPolitiq) March 25, 2024

Treasurer’s antifragile Budget just another black swan

Antifragile: Broken bones can sometimes heal stronger than before the break

The Treasurer is like a boss who enthusiastically makes everyone’s life a misery with every new fad.

We have superannuation funds where trillions of dollars of our retirement funds are tied up and likely to be used for renewable energy projects or social housing if Labor gets another crack at governing.

We have a housing market that is being swamped by government trying  to build social housing and failing to do so while messing up the market.

We have poles and wires ripping up prime agricultural land and destroying the retirement prospects of farmers and landholders to connect government-funded renewables projects. Nuclear is not even allowed to compete in the mix because it remains banned.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Treasurer’s antifragile Budget just another black swan.

Treasurer’s antifragile Budget just another black swan
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The Treasurer is like a boss who enthusiastically makes everyone’s life a misery with every new fad.

We have superannuation funds where trillions of dollars of our retirement funds are tied up and likely to be used… pic.twitter.com/7zPyUwKK53

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) March 25, 2024