The UK pm’s climate spokesperson has range anxiety, so she drives a diesel VW | Hacker News Reader

The UK pm’s climate spokesperson has range anxiety, so she drives a diesel VW

electrek.co

23 pointsunderscore_ku20 comments

> How could any other country take Johnson seriously when his climate spokesperson refuses to give up her old diesel car due to unfounded range anxiety?

Because other countries will judge the UK for its excellent record on climate reductions, rather than that of a single individual.

https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-kingdom?countr...

I don't see much value in shaming one person's choice on such a matter.

"Do as I say, not as I do"

Yes...

>> "How could any other country take Johnson seriously"

Not convinced that the problem's his climate spokesperson, TBH...

That record doesn't look so good when emissions are billed where they belong: to the consumer, not the producer.

> About half of Britain’s true carbon footprint is made up of [international travel and the carbon produced overseas to make goods that are used here], according to a report from the conservation charity WWF.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/16/britain-...

This is obviously over-dramatic and an arguably false point of view. A third-hand diesel VW is probably a great choice for anyone who cares about the climate or has any personality whatsoever.

Also, a few charging stations being troublesome is not equivalent to a gas station pump being out of order. It takes awhile, and any spaces filled will be filled for a while. At the pump, you can wait for 5 min and a space will be free, and you can continue driving for 5-800km. Yes it'll cost you, especially in Britain, but that's what people pay for.

I have zero interest atm in electric vehicles, on the basis that they're largely inpractically expensive, aren't well-suited for renters, and aren't as well-suited for the only thing I'd need a car for, which is long-distance road trips. I could adapt, but I'd really be working my life around something I absolutely don't need to own yet.

> I have zero interest atm in electric vehicles, on the basis that they're largely inpractically expensive, aren't well-suited for renters, and aren't as well-suited for the only thing I'd need a car for, which is long-distance road trips.

And this is why your government, and many others, are passing or considering ICE bans. The right thing is often too much hassle for people to do on their own, and they need to be forced into it.

Assuming the new cars are available at price families that traditionally buy Xth hand cars in rates, can actually afford.

How can you afford to buy and operate a combustion vehicle when it’s contributing to catastrophic climate change?

When the infrastructure isn't there, it takes 2 hours to do what are 30 minutes by car, when transport are available excluding the weekends and after 8pm, and one can buy a combustion vehicle for 5 000 euros on credit.

Everything is contributing to climate change to some extent, but buying a used ICE vehicle and continuing to use it till it dies is probably better than indebting myself for years to buy a logistically challenging and otherwise unmanufactured car.

Spokesperson needs to regularly make trips of 250 miles without a long stop to charge. Article criticizes her for not using an electric vehicle because they have a range of 200 miles. Does the author propose she and her young children walk the other 50?

AFAIR, all of the places she visits (south Scotland, Gloucestershire, north Wales, Lake District) have good train service from London. Would be a good advert for the trains if she used them instead of what is presumably a non-eco friendly diesel...

Getting around those places once you've used the train will absolutely require a car and none of them have Uber or an equivalent.

taxi services, buses and local train services exist in all of those places.

So many problems with that assertion...

You've got very low expectations if you count those as "good" services - trying to travel with one small child would be challenging, two is likely to be stressful, even before the issues of getting from the station to the destination for one, let alone a family... Then there's the costs, in both time and money...

There are certain people for whom current EV's don't make sense - from what she say's, she's currently one of them. Maybe not ideal, but in the real-world, that's sometimes the way it is. Doesn't mean that the issues shouldn't be addressed, but not all obstacles can be avoided at a reasonable cost.

> You've got very low expectations if you count those as "good" services

A fair point. "Workable" is probably better.

> trying to travel with one small child would be challenging, two is likely to be stressful

Sure but I know a lot of people who manage that regularly on similar routes without having to resort to cars.

> Maybe not ideal, but in the real-world, that's sometimes the way it is.

Sure but if you're a top-level government climate spokesperson, using an old diesel car because "you don't want to stop to charge" in an EV and you seemingly haven't even considered trains is a very bad look.

So it's now okay to attack the ruling class and super rich for their CO2 emissions?

I can't keep up. One day, criticism of a celebrity advocating-green from their mega yacht, a politician's energy guzzling mansion, and billionaires flying private jets to meetings in Switzerland about the future of the globe is verboten. The next day some lowly political staffer's old efficient small car is open slather.

"Slather". That's a great word to use!

The Tories don't care about the environment, or anything that is the jobs they are nominally meant to do.

Is there a point to this post other than to be nasty?

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