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Comment by throwaway4220 | Hacker News Reader

Harvard study from a sophomore undergraduate. Doesn’t take into account energy mix, improvement in supply chain sourcing that will eventually reduce emissions for bev, not sure if carbon costs of refining gasoline is considered.

Also… don’t people just take an Uber or bus if not driving that often?

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> Harvard study from a sophomore undergraduate.

That doesn't indicate the quality of the study either way.

I don't drive that often but I don't use ridesharing services or the bus. I bike.

It's a 19 year old without a college degree, I think it's a reasonable criticism.

Not really. It's the very definition of an ad hominem.

If the study uses non-factual information or does not interpret the data by understanding the nuances that may yield different interpretations, then the author's educational background may offer an explanation. But that isn't the critique here.

It's just reverse ageism with a mix of elitism.

I said to counter the “Harvard researcher” points this article got. If you want to go on merit don’t name drop

I think it was the website that name-dropped, not the author of the study. It seems poor form to criticize the study itself based on how it's reported in pop media.

Studies stand or fall on their own merits. The background of the author isn't actually relevant to that. If the study holds, it holds. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

I mean.. I also explained why I thought study was lacking

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00862

> Also… don’t people just take an Uber or bus if not driving that often?

In big cities, sure, but in most of the US, public transport is over 2x as slow as a car and semi-regular Uber exceeds cost of ownership of a used car. Where I live my total cost to own and operate a lightly used car is under $1000/year. I bought it prepandemic under $5k and could sell it today for around $10k.

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