Articles recently have noted the financial difficulties of Lion electric school buses, prompting letter writers to promote other brands. I am writing to offer two books describing the value of electric vehicles: “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” by Bill Gates (2021) and “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming,” by Paul Hawken (2017).

Both conclude that full adoption of electric autos is worth single digits to the climate “crisis,” if — and only if — the grid is 100% green. The U.S. grid is 17% green. That is a long way from 100%. While we like to claim Maine’s grid is 70% green, one can debate the meaningfulness of that claim while connected to a national system that is 17% green.

The change to electric vehicles is decades premature and harmful to the environment until the grid is 100% green. Add to that the damage to multiple Third World countries while we extract rare elements and, worse yet, using labor practices we would not tolerate in Western countries. Add to that the fact that electric vehicles cost much more, especially buses. Add to that EVs sell only with large subsidies while the U.S. is $34 trillion in debt. This makes no sense.

Bottom line — think about these adds and take a look at these books and see if it’s still worth spending more money while actually harming the planet.

And, if anyone is aware of a life cycle analysis of EVs that is clearly positive, please let me know.

Brian Jones
Gorham