New Mexico’s US Senator Martin Heinrich’s Twitter feed is a strange place. Heinrich has carved out a bit of a niche, such as it is, by criticizing natural gas use in the home and pushing for “electrification” despite the already-high cost of electrical heat relative to gas.
Were electricity to become dominant in home heating AND vehicle “fuel” as Heinrich wishes AND for that electricity to be generated from wind and solar, you can bet that the price tag would be even higher. Nonetheless, here’s Heinrich making a bizarre point about cooking on a natural gas stove being equivalent to having a babysitter smoke in your house.
It saddens me that Martin does not look out for New Mexicans. I don’t have a twitter account, but he pushes the same unrealistic all electric mantra on Facebook also. I always make the comment that all electric is not practical for decades and will only be a partial mix with other energy fuels such as natural gas over time. Natural gas appliance and residential usage is not significantly harmful to people, especially with respect to all the risks we experience daily already. Natural gas is a very safe and clean fuel and the EU added it to their green alternatives mix because of that. I usually suggest that Martin consider helping achieve that for America and especially New Mexico since so much of our state revenues come from oil and natural gas. I recommend that he support his constituents like Senator Manchin and support the oil and gas industries in New Mexico, not try to abolish them.
Let’s talk about electric vehicles and their cost and how they would save you money and are healthful ( a joke). What about the healthful battery fires in electric cars? Many individuals have reported battery fires in their cars while charging them in their garages and even when being serviced. How about that giant warehouse battery fire in CA, almost unreported, and how about the ship in the Atlantic carrying electric cars and batteries which caught fire a while back and is still burning? But, not only are these things a fire hazard, but they cost a lot of money and the insurance rates must be horrific due to price and hazards. Plus, there are additional expenses, such as installing battery chargers in the garage.
My 2013 Volt gets 50 miles to a battery charge. That is barely getting to town. I cannot find a plug for it @120 or 240 volts as i am in an apartment… And takes 5-8 hrs to fully charge.
Think it over carefully.
I love my car but do not even use battery. Good mileage, good pickup for a 4-cyl engine…but cannot go over pass between Cruces n Alamogordo as i lose power on the grade.
The tech has improved but not as tempered as regular engines are.
Check all specs. Test drive on steep trails. Extremely low to the ground, not practical in NM. Perfect for me but I do not travel much.
Just make no assumptions and check all specs against your own expectations is my advice…i bought it in DE, flat as a state can be.
The quest for Congo’s cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship.
Cobalt is only one of the many toxic elements needed to make the battery’s electrodes.
Who says electrical fires won’t become more frequent should nat. gas be eliminated in all new structures ?
By the way, those Chinese were smart to position themselves in the mining market at just the right time. Don’t get me wrong I don’t support the way they do it. We didn’t invent gamesmanship, but we should be the best at it, including timing.