Study: 'Green' Cars More Harmful to the Environment Than Gas-Powered Vehicles?

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Electric cars may actually be more harmful to the environment than gas-powered vehicles, possibly invalidating the entire purpose of “green” cars, according to a recent study on the subject.

“[R]esearcher Ozzie Zehner says electric cars lead to hidden environmental and health damages and are likely more harmful than gasoline cars and other transportation options,” UPI reports, citing Zehner’s recent work in the journal IEEE Spectrum.

“Electric cars merely shift negative impacts from one place to another,” writes Zehner, who is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

“[M]ost electric-car assessments analyze only the charging of the car. This is an important factor indeed," he adds. "But a more rigorous analysis would consider the environmental impacts over the vehicle's entire life cycle, from its construction through its operation and on to its eventual retirement at the junkyard."

He goes on to argue that political and business interests have worked harder to give the appearance that “green” cars are better for the environment than actually making sure “green” cars are better for the environment.

"Upon closer consideration, moving from petroleum-fueled vehicles to electric cars starts to appear tantamount to shifting from one brand of cigarettes to another," Zehner said.

The study’s author, UPI notes, was at one point a major supporter of “green” energy initiaves.

He “has since changed his position and become an activist looking at a number of so-called green initiatives,” the report concludes.

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