There's a manufactured consumer war between oil and coal energies. Who'da thunk we'd arrive within this realm of advertising? There are currently commercials that pit internal combustion engines against electricity. Which one is creating the most carbon pollution? Careful.
Here's a car commercial. Amusing scenario - the array of appliances and tools that are normally clean electric are, instead, run by internal combustion engines.
And so, the clean little Nissan LEAF is unplugged and ready for a clean drive because the extension chord does not create exhaust. (Did you catch the dig on the Chevy Volt; a hybrid?)
Otherwise, it's black smoke and fumes. This is what gasoline combustion spews, right? Yes, but what is the unspoken implication here about electricity? Clean?
Picture a coal-fired electric generation plant. We've seen the stacks in the distance. Black plumes on the horizon. The question is, then: Is gasoline combustion better, or coal combustion better?
When you plug ANYTHING into your wall socket, including an electric car, it is likely being generated by coal, or by a withering nuclear plant.I'm pretty sure these commercials aren't assuming their electric cars are powered by wind generators or solar, which would be cleaner than coal. And, though wind and solar are the answer for many smaller applications, these renewables are not anywhere near a substantial resource at this point.
So, what are we ultimately talking about? Emissions? Yes. Guess what? The fossil fuel coal and the fossil fuel oil both emit crippling amounts of carbon into our biosphere. Is there even a lesser of two evils?
The play is to convince the fickle public to look at a quiet, clean, convenient, benign electrical outlet on the wall and conclude that this clean little plastic slot is producing clean energy with a little zap.
Aaaarrgh.
