Consider the environmental cost of using electric vehicles
Re: Electric vehicles are not really ‘zero-emission’
Thank you, Matthew Law, for bringing to light the subject of the cost of this so-called pollution-free emerging technology.
While your article touches on the unspoken economic costs associated with this feelgood trend, I question how much thought is given to the environmental effect of mining the rare Earth minerals required to power these vehicles, or the effect of disposing the energy sources when their life is exhausted.
Most of the contents of these power units are derived from jurisdictions which have lax environmental guidelines and little regard for the toxic waste left behind to poison the planet for generations.
Perhaps when the full cost of this infatuation is taken into consideration, its allure may fade faster than the Edsel. Richard Tisher, Vancouver
Throw the book at 4/20
I would disagree with my former colleague Mike Smyth’s assessment that the City of Vancouver should just throw in the towel and give the scofflaws at the 4/20 celebration their permits.
Why should they knuckle under to this rag-tag band of scruffy, dope smoking vagrants. Throw the book at them, a bookload of civil suits for not only the organizers, but the individual vendors.
Take the profit out of it and you will see how dedicated they are to the cause.
Take more out of their pockets than they are making and you will see their highminded zeal go, well, up in smoke. Greg Middleton, Vancouver
What’s up with gas prices?
I find it interesting that the price of oil is $64 per barrel and our gas prices are higher than when oil prices were over $100 a barrel. So why is the price of gas close to $2 a litre? Who is to blame? And how much are they making off the hard-working people of B.C.?
How is ICBC going to make any money if people decide to take their car or truck off the road? Let’s hope that the price of gas goes down by summer so families can go and visit their grandparents. Dave Warrender, Port Alberni
Transit just not convenient
I would love nothing better than to take transit to work. But to get to Richmond from Surrey I would have to take two buses, and it would take 90 minutes minimum. I do not have that extra time as both of my kids play sports, requiring me to take them to fields, sometimes as early as 4:30 p.m.
Knowing we do not have an adequate transit system could be the reason that gas prices are through the roof. We have to get to work and most of us commute. Lisa Sarai, Surrey
Writer not fooling anyone
Letter writer Bill Davis speaks of government ignorance while clearly oblivious to his own.
He blames the provincial NDP for no Uber, while ignoring all those years the Liberals dragged their feet on the issue. He refers to ICBC as a train wreck, conveniently omitting that the Liberals mismanaged and used it as a piggy bank for their 16 years in office.
Other falsehoods in the letter include blaming the NDP for high gas prices (Liberals started the carbon tax as well as raising previous ones), and later laughably suggesting that the NDP is taking no action on money laundering despite actions to the contrary, whereas during the Liberals time in office hockey bags full of cash were being accepted at casinos.
Nice try, but you aren’t going to fool me. Adam Wittmeier, Langley