If we electrified every vehicle tomorrow by waving a magic wand we could just afford the cost of road upkeep; otherwise, not.

It's going to be rails or trails soon enough.

Put the Carbon Back

Electric vehicles such as the Tesla often obtain 90% energy conversion efficiency; can be combined with regenerative braking; and cause less air pollution and less noise pollution than internal combustion engines.  In the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? it further explains that it takes several hundred electric cars to equal the pollution of one standard combustion engine. That's even with plugging into the electrical grid based on coal.  Furthermore, as a Hollywood celebratory, Damon probably does most of his driving in California which is phasing out coal.

Maybe sending them bottled water is not a good idea, but giving money to aid organizations doesn't rate much better. I had first hand experience with a number of them in Africa. They were spending large amount of aid money on housing (nice, big housing with swimming pools in Ethiopia!), whores who were paid as "domestic help" - oh yeah, they were helping domestically alright, Air Conditioned SUVs.........

So research carefully before you donate. And be cautious on their published numbers - they have a tendency to lie.


Victory in Pattani

On substance: electric cars are they way forward for wealthy parts of the West, because we can hook them up to 'negative emissions electricity' (that is: carbon-negative bioenergy). This way, you can drive a car and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Obviously this is only a concept, and electric cars offer no real advantages as long as the energy mix is dominated by fossil fuel sources. But at least, these cars signal what could be possible (negative emissions instead of zero emissions).

The challenge now is to reduce costs fifty-fold so we can sell $2000 electric cars to developing countries.

Damon should go to India, China, Brazil, Africa and other developing regions to show off EVs.

Because after all, it is in the developing world that the climate fight will be lost or won. 75% of all new energy consumption will come from these countries; 75% in the growth of mobility infrastructures and vehicles sales will occur in the Global South.

In short, Matt Damon, go South. Go make some impact!

Of course the US lacks intellectuals!  Showing interest in anything intellectual in this country is a mortal sin.

To modify your excellent advice to young cutey-pie Matt Damon: Yes, Go South, but concentrate.  Focus.  Go to just one country: and I would choose one of these four: Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa.  And decide to live there for a bit; and decide to learn all you can about one big energy issue (e.g. EVs?), and one big biodiversity issue.

And then, of course, what with your charm and all, get other people to get interested too.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

I'm not falling for that kind of greenwash and neither should anyone else.