The Idea That Climate Action Is Costly Would Fail A 2nd Grade Math Test
A common talking point in political circles is that climate action costs a lot. Even among proponents of strong climate action, there is a common tendency to just accept that as fact. However, this is not like going shopping for toys at Toys-R-Us (or I guess Amazon these days). It’s not like you either spend money or you spend $0. Lack of climate action comes at a cost, a very high cost.
As Arthur Hasler pointed out earlier today, if you just look at the costs of oversized, over-pumped storms, the results are horrendous. “Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. Inflicting around $210 billion in damage, it was the second-costliest hurricane on record in the United States until it was surpassed by Hurricane Maria ($215 billion) in 2017. It was also approximately tied by Hurricane Harvey ($210 billion) in 2017. (Hurricane Katrina is estimated to have cost $320 billion.) All of these disasters have occurred since 2005.”
Storms are getting stronger, and much costlier. So are fires. Interestingly, at the same time, technology costs for key cleantech industries have been coming down. About a decade ago 16 years ago, some researchers and analysts published the following chart along with a study on the impacts and costs of climate change. The key finding: the damages cost a lot less if you take strong climate action sooner.
Chart courtesy of Skeptical Science.
If you spend a little bit on climate action today, the costs of climate damage are going to be relatively large. If you spend a lot on climate action today, the damages from climate-related disasters won’t be nearly as high.
That said, that chart above has a couple of issues. Firstly, it’s from 2005. Global heating and all of its ramifications have been occurring at a much quicker clip than expected back then. Secondly, solar, wind, and battery costs have dropped much more quickly than people expected. That means the chart should show a significantly higher gap between the costs of climate action and the costs of total climate catastrophe from inaction.
I don’t have up-to-date figures, and no one really does since even a thorough report would have to estimate and forecast assumptions about sales, pricing, etc., but however many trillions of dollars it costs to adequately address global heating, it would cost multiples of that amount if we ignored the need to act and simply let global heating play out.
Growing climate catastrophes are going to grab more and more headlines in the coming decade. They are already baked in, but will only get worse and worse as time marches on. The more we can do so, we should point out that, yes, it costs money to investment in solar power, wind power, battery storage, and electric vehicles, but it will cost several times more to face destruction from hurricanes, fires, drought, flooding, and heat — not to mention all the extra suffering. It may cost $30 trillion to make adequate investments into energy and technology transitions, but if so, it’d probably cost $60 trillion, $90 trillion, or some other multiple of $30 trillion to do nothing. Ahem, Manchin.
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Environment
Podcast: GMC Sierra EV Denali first drive, Hyundai Ioniq 9 unveiling, Jaguar rebranding, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss our GMC Sierra EV Denali first drive, Hyundai Ioniq 9 unveiling, Jaguar’s rebranding, and more.
Sponsored by ALSET Auto: North America’s leader in paint protection and restyling; offering colored wraps, paint protection, window tint, ceramic coatings and more, exclusively on EVs.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET):
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It’s official: Chrysler will finally launch an electric Pacifica minivan. The company is developing clever storage ideas that could make it even more functional than Volkswagen’s recently introduced ID.Buzz. But you’ll have to wait a little longer to get your hands on one.
Chrysler confirms plans to launch an electric Pacifica
Chrysler has yet to release its first fully electric vehicle. Although the nearly 100-year-old automaker has teased several EV concepts, we have yet to see one come to fruition. That will change soon.
Earlier this year, the company revealed its Halcyon Concept, a futuristic sports car-like EV drastically different from Chrysler vehicles currently on the road. The model builds on previous concepts, like the Airflow crossover introduced in 2022.
Chrysler’s CEO, Christine Feuell, said the Halycon would be brought to life with advanced new tech from parent company Stellantis, sleek new styling, and a software-defined connected cockpit.
The radical design will be used in future Chrysler vehicles, including the electric Pacifica. At the LA Auto Show this week, Feuell confirmed to GreenCarReports that the Pacifica is due for an overhaul in 2026. The refresh will lay the groundwork for the first electric Pacifica, which is expected to launch the following year.
Chrysler’s CEO hinted the upcoming Pacifica EV could challenge Volkswagen’s ID.Buzz, the first electric minivan to arrive in the US.
While you’ll need to remove the seats for that open-air space in the ID.Buzz, Chrysler is working on more functional solutions. According to Feuell, the company is developing a system like its patented Stow ‘N Go Seating to open up space in the rear.
Although nothing is set in stone, one option is adjustable front seats, enabling the second row to be stored underneath.
Electrek’s Take
As Chrysler’s only production model in 2024, it only makes sense to launch an electric Pacifica. The Pacifica hybrid was the fourth best-selling plug-in hybrid in the US in Q3. It also accounted for 14% (3,009) of the 21,504 Pacifica models sold last quarter.
Meanwhile, the company is quickly losing market share in the US. Pacifica sales crashed 44% in Q3 and are down 18% through September.
Several new larger electric SUVs, like the Kia EV9, are already hitting the market, and more are on the way, including the recently unveiled Hyundai IONIQ 9. With the electric Pacifica not due out until 2027 (at the earliest), Chrysler will likely continue losing ground as new, more advanced competitors roll out.
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Tesla has converted an entire Shell gas station into a Supercharger station for electric vehicles in Spain, and it looks fantastic.
One of the favorite arguments of electric vehicle naysayers is that there are not as many charging stations as gas stations – making EVs less convenient.
The argument is flawed since most EVs are charged overnight when parked, and they can be charged literally anywhere there’s an electric outlet, which is not the case with gas-powered vehicles.
Most of the time, charging electric vehicles is more convenient than refueling a gas-powered car, and that’s going to become more widespread as time goes on because there are more charging stations being deployed, and many gas stations are going away.
In some markets where electric vehicles are being adopted at a higher rate, like in Norway, gas stations have been closing left and right.
In some cases, EV charging stations are directly replacing some.
Today, we get to see a beautiful example in Cordoba, Spain, where Tesla took over a Shell gas station and converted it into (hat tip to Aland≡Bru on X):
While it is not completed, it’s particularly interesting to see that Tesla has kept a similar design to the classic gas station setup.
To be fair, this is not exactly a new concept. There’s even a company that specializes in replacing gas stations with EV charging stations.
We have also previously seen gas station operators replacing gas pumps with charging stalls.
Interestingly, even the oil giant Shell, which is seeing its gas station here replaced by a Tesla Supercharger here, is investing in electric vehicle charging through several new efforts.
The only thing missing to this charging station is solar power, which is the best way to charger your electric car, and the best solar is on your home. If you want to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage. EnergySage is a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar – whether you’re a homeowner or renter. They have hundreds of vetted solar installers competing for your business (including Tesla and Powerwall certified installers in some markets), ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20 to 30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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