Letter to the Editor:
It’s sad to read of our polluted Bay, and it’s especially galling that Santa Monica Pier is the most polluted part of the Bay. While our local and state governments are doing yeoman’s work trying out the latest tech to clean up what’s already getting into our water, there is a simple action most individuals can take that will significantly reduce pollutants from ever being generated in the first place. I’m speaking of oil and its derivatives; gasoline and diesel. For all our lives, those are the two fuels used for over 99% of travel and deliveries. Tens of millions of internal combustion crankcases dripping oil on the roads combined with the massive pollution from the six refineries in the South Bay, constitutes a significant portion of the pollution in Santa Monica Bay.
Now that electric vehicles (EVs) have reached cost parity with gas-burning cars and trucks, it is important to end your life-long relationship with gasoline engines. From this point on, the most effective action you can take is to never buy a gas car again, and to the extent you have influence, don’t let your friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors buy one either. The internal combustion industry is going to end its 100 year reign of powering our transportation over the next couple of decades. While it did a lot of good work for us, there was always the downside of pollution, military excursions to grab oil, and serious health problems. Now that we can get the benefits of motorized transportation without most of the negative consequences, it’s important we make the right choice going forward.
Paul Scott, Co-Founder of Plug In America Santa Monica
