Well, hello there, my friends, and welcome back. My name is Stephanie Safarian, and you're listening to another Headlines episode here on the Sustainable Minimalist Podcast. Today, we're talking planes. And automobiles, even though the title is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. We're just talking about planes and automobiles today. Specifically, we're starting off with the automobiles because if you were paying attention, you already know big news out of the White House.
of Wednesday, yes, the Biden administration did announce a new rule aimed at expanding electric vehicles and reducing tailpipe emissions. So let's remind ourselves, cars and other forms of transportation like trains and planes, they are together the largest single source of carbon emissions generated here in the United States.
And these carbon emissions, it's pollution. It's driving climate change, which, by the way, helped make 2023 the hottest year in recorded history. The pollution is also bad for human health. Fine particulates, the PM 2.5s that we talk about an awful lot on headlines are in part due to automobile emissions. Now, President Biden has a plan for all of that and electric vehicles are central.
to his plan for confronting global warming. Three years ago, President Biden set a very ambitious target. He said that by 2030, half, so 50% of all new trucks and sold would have zero. tailpipe emissions, aka likely be EVs. Well, Where are we at? Are we at 50%? Heck no, we're not. Even though a record 1.2 million electric vehicles were sold last year. That 1.2 million, it made up just 7.6.
percent, just 7.6 percent of total U.S. car sales. So good, I guess, but not great and certainly nowhere near Biden's ambitious target of 50 percent. So there's a long way to go. Well, enter Biden's new standards introduced on Wednesday of this week. The rule increasingly limits the amount of pollution allowed from tailpipes.
over time so that by the year 2032, more than half of new cars sold in the U.S. would most likely be zero emissions vehicles in order for car makers to meet these new standards. The standards essentially force automakers to ramp up their sales of EVs while simultaneously slashing emissions from gas-powered models. Now, I've heard this new rule hailed as,
significant climate regulation in US history. Wow, big words, right? I've also heard it called a landmark rule that would transform the automobile market. Wow. Again, big words. And according to the EPA, this all might be true. Those big words might be justified. And that's because this new rule would avoid more than seven billion. tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 30 years.
7 billion. That's billion with a B. Sit with that number for a minute, please. Holy moly. That's the equivalent of removing a year's worth of all the greenhouse gases generated. by the United States. 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided over the next 30 years with this new rule. Wow. Now, of course, that's all only.
If the fossil fuels don't put up a legitimate challenge. And by the way, they've already mobilized the American fuel and petrochemical manufacturers, which, by the way, is a lobbying organization, has already started a seven figure. campaign of advertising phone calls and text messages against what it falsely calls quote, Biden's EPA car ban. And all those text messages and phone calls, they are going out to the swing state. So if you live in a swing state, be ready for it. Now, let's be clear.
The EPA regulation is not a ban. So when they say Biden's EPA car ban, that is false. The regulation is not a ban. It does not mandate. The sales of electric vehicles, gas-powered cars and trucks can and will still be sold. But the new regulation requires carmakers to meet very tough new average emissions limits across their... entire product line. It's up to the manufacturers to decide how they're going to comply. And if they don't comply, they'll face severe penalties.
Now, two other benefits to Biden's new rule. I mean, avoiding the 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions, that's a huge, huge benefit that can't be understated. But two more. Let's go back to those fine particulate measures. matters, the PM 2.5s. We talk about them a lot on this show because they are dangerous to human health. This new rule would also...
significantly reduce fine particulate matter, because let's not forget tailpipe emissions is pollution. Only seven countries have met global guidelines for PM 2.5s this year, by the way. And another benefit to Biden's new rule, the standards will save the average American driver about $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance costs over the life of a vehicle. And that's also according to the EPA.
Now, speaking of cost savings, let's go on to our second story today. It has never been cheaper than right this moment to buy an electric vehicle. Now, if you have a great car and it's running great, do not go out and buy an electric vehicle. However, if you are considering an electric vehicle and if it's time to purchase one for you as per your own personal circumstances, now might be the time. New electric car prices dropped.
two thousand dollars in the united states just last month alone and that brings evs close to price parity with gas powered cars. So remember back when EVs started getting attention and Teslas in particular were super cool, all the cool kids were driving Teslas? Well, car buyers had to pay a steep premium back then if they wanted a car that ran on batteries and Teslas in particular. Two years ago, if you were going to buy an EV, you would have paid about $17,000 more on average for that new
EV as opposed to a new gas-powered car. But according to new data from Cox Automotive, that gap has been rapidly closing. That gap has shrunk to just $5,000. price difference in the last month. Now, as of now, Tesla is setting EV prices so low that they are almost even with gas-powered cars. Here's just two examples. The base model three sedan, it cost about $47,000 at the beginning of 2023. That car now sells for $39,000.
How about the premium Model Y? At the start of 2023, that car, that Tesla, was $70,000. It's now just $52,500 at this moment. Now, you might be wondering why. Well, why are EV prices falling? I have two reasons for you. The first, of course, is the fact that consumers, we consumers were not buying EVs as quickly as dealers expected. So the industry has moved now beyond enthusiastic early adopters. The enthusiastic adopters have likely...
by and large, already bought their EVs. And so now people buying cars, they're likely concerned about the charging infrastructure. Can they get to where they need to go or is their battery going to die? They're likely concerned about perhaps some of those high upfront costs. They're perhaps concerned about maintenance costs or finding a maintenance professional who can take care of their EV for service. A second reason that EV prices are dropping.
and dropping fast is falling battery prices. Batteries are nearly 90% cheaper today than they were in 2008. And that figure comes from the U.S. Energy Department. So car dealerships are discounting EVs on their lots. Average EV prices dropped about $2,000 last month. And analysts believe that we are going to continue to see price cuts or discounts because there's inventory sitting on lots and dealers are trying to get them sold. So again, what does this mean for you? It means that...
If and only if you're in the market for a new car and you are interested in an EV, now might be the time because EV price is certainly in your favor at the moment. Now, I mentioned following battery prices there. Let's just talk really quick about those lithium batteries. On NPR, I heard a very quick piece just this morning about the ways in which countries are scrambling to get into the mining business.
And so, yes, demand for lithium and other metals, too, like cobalt, copper and nickel, that demand is soaring as the world increases manufacturing of green energy components like the batteries, but also like the solar panels, too. Research finds that more than half of these mineral projects are on or near the lands of indigenous peoples. And that's not just in the United States. That's worldwide.
Specifically, that number comes in around 54%. 54% of energy transition minerals projects are on or near lands of indigenous peoples. An analysis in the United States alone found more than 75%. of lithium, copper, and nickel reserves and resources, they are located within 35 miles of Native American reservations. Now, mines, whether they're on indigenous lands or not, mines leave A big, gigantic footprint. Roads, ports, and other infrastructure needs to be made.
Air pollution, water loss, biodiversity loss, destruction of cultural sites, all of it and none of it good. So as the United States amps up mining. of these metals for our electric cars. I definitely foresee tension. So stay tuned. We're going to take our ad break. So if you are a subscriber to the show, just keep on listening. No ad for you. For the rest of you, I'll see you after our sponsor break.
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And we're back. Before the break, we discussed the Biden administration's new rule aimed at expanding electric vehicles. We also talked about falling EV prices, and we touched on the tensions associated with mining. metals that go into our batteries for our electric vehicles. Now we're moving on to the planes portion of the show. Have you booked a flight lately?
If you have, you may have noticed something new. Many flight booking platforms are giving customers a new number to think about when they're buying a plane ticket. And that number, of course, is the expected greenhouse gas emission. of their trip now google flights has been doing this for about two years now they were an early adopter of sorts and if you have used google flights in the past you have likely seen little green numbers that compares each route's climate impact.
Google, by the way, uses data about flight schedules and airplane models and how full a flight is expected to be to come up with that number, to come up with that estimate for each passenger's carbon footprint. Now, other platforms are jumping on board too, Expedia, Booking.com. They have also started using the same algorithm that Google Flights uses. It's called the Travel Impact Model, or TIM for short.
Tim, of course, tells customers whether their itinerary emits more or less carbon than usual. Now, Tim, the travel impact model, estimates how much fuel your plane will burn along its route, and then it estimates how much of those emissions you personally are responsible for compared with other passengers. And so if you're wondering, well, do those numbers mean anything? Are they accurate? The answer is yes, they're fairly accurate. They're not perfect.
But they're not greenwashed, at least not at the moment. So those green numbers under a flight that say something about emissions, they mean something. Now, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation, on average, customers could cut their flight emissions by about 20% if they picked the least
polluting itinerary. And if you're thinking to yourself, oh, well, the least polluting itinerary, that's probably the most amount of money. Oh, no, no, no. In this case, doing the eco-friendly thing? or I should say the eco-friendlier thing, comes with price savings. You likely wouldn't have to pay much more in most cases, and that's because greener flights actually tend to be... cheaper. That's because greener flights are of course burning less fuel.
So when choosing a flight, how do you do it? Do you go only on the green numbers? Do you look at time? If it works with your schedule, do you look at layovers? What do you do? If you want to be eco-friendlier when picking a flight, Again, the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation does offer us all an informal rule when buying airfare. If you are buying a plane ticket, consider at least...
Three options. So choose three flights and then compare them on cost, on convenience, and on emissions. So choose three flights that look good. and then compare them again on cost, convenience, and emissions. You do not always have to pick the greenest flight, but the ICCT does... suggest that if you're making an effort to think about emissions, you'll tend to make planet-friendlier choices.
And I'll just add to this and remind all of us, myself included, that flying is inherently uneco-friendly, right? Definitely, if you can, pick the climate friendlier option, but know that flying is never climate friendly, right? Of course, the greenest option is not to fly, but that's not always practical here in the United States. which of course has horrible infrastructure. We all know it to be true. We lack those high speed rail lines. We lack other.
decent alternatives to air travel. So if you're going to fly, know that those green numbers do mean something. And if you can, pick the least emitting flight possible. Again, if you can. Now, before we say goodbye today, just a quick note, the United States is no longer one of the world's happiest countries. The United States fell from 15th place to 23rd place this year, and that's according to the annual
World Happiness Report. The drop was driven by lower reports of well-being from young people. Now, what's interesting to me about this report is it mentions that, in general, Wellbeing is reflected in a U-curve. So when you're youthful, you're at the top of the U, you're feeling good, and then as life goes on, you get less and less happy, you're moving down the U, and then usually you're at the bottom, so the curve of the U by late 30s, early 40s.
By the way, that's where I'm at right this second. Your well-being has dropped so low that you're at the bottom of the U. But then as you continue along your life, 50s, 60s, 70s, you find yourself up on the other. peak of that U. And that's not what's happening according to this new survey. American youth essentially are starting out at the bottom of the U.
Their reported well-being is already low. So the question begs to be asked, not just why, but what's going to happen next? Like, how low can they go? And this isn't United States specific. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have also found decreasing rates of happiness for all age groups, but with particular notable drops for young people.
Now, you might be wondering, well, where are the happiest places on Earth? You know it to be true. It's those Nordic countries. Finland is in the number one spot this year for the seventh year in a row, by the way, followed by Denmark. Iceland, and Sweden. That's our show today. We will be back on Tuesday where we are discussing house rules. Yes, we are house rules. I know that's ambiguous, but I'm going to leave it there. I'll see you Tuesday. Have an amazing weekend and take care.