We’ve known that the Biden administration cares about the climate about as much as it cares about coherent sentences, but the most recent Twitter post from POTUS really is a humdinger. Seated in a 9,000-pound Hummer EV — an asphalt-crushing weight for a consumer vehicle — Biden cheeses for the cameras and reminds the public why Democrats aren’t worth listening to about conservation and practical climate solutions:
Biden is giving free publicity to the Hummer EV, a 4.5-ton behemoth so inefficient that it pollutes more per mile than a *gas-powered* sedan.
Source: https://t.co/93TnWu8MFf https://t.co/wg1OovwYM4
— David Zipper (@DavidZipper) January 30, 2023
As Peter Huether of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) notes, the Hummer EV produces more CO2 than a midsize ICE sedan:
Emissions per mile driven are lower for EVs than for similarly sized gasoline-powered cars, but they are not zero. The Chevy Bolt EV is responsible for about 92 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per mile when accounting for emissions from the electric grid. (The CO2 calculations are based on the national average, but electric grid emissions vary considerably across the country.) The gasoline-powered Chevy Malibu causes over 320 grams per mile. Comparing larger vehicles, the original Hummer H1 emits 889 grams of CO2 per mile and the new Hummer EV causes 341 grams, demonstrating that behemoth EVs can still be worse for the environment than smaller, conventional vehicles.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d kiss Al Gore for the chance to drive a Hummer EV. But let’s not pretend the 1,000 hp brick is doing the long-eared jerboa any favors.