By Cynthia Bratz

Are gas vehicles worse for the environment than electric vehicles? That is a question we should be discussing. 

A popular myth today is that the environmental impact from manufacturing electric vehicle batteries make EVs undesirable.To objectively compare EVs to a gas/diesel vehicles, you need to carefully consider the environmental and social costs of relying on fossil fuels compared to EVs.

When you fill up in northwest Washington you are likely to use gas or diesel refined from extraction of synthetic crude oil from the Canadian oil sands or crude oil from Alaska’s north slope. Or perhaps it’s the minerals extraction required to make batteries for your EV.All of these mining practices have been linked to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, environmental pollution, and human rights violations. 

National Public Radio had a well-researched article last year comparing EVs to gas/diesel vehicles. The article (“Their batteries hurt the environment, but EVs still beat gas cars. Here’s why”) looked at lifecycle assessments examining the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of building and using gas vehicles compared to EVs. Study after study found a clear benefit of EVs. “The results were clearer than we thought, actually,” says Georg Bieker, with the International Council on Clean Transportation, who authored one report.

The NPR article interviewed Thea Riofrancos, a political science professor who has studied the impacts from mineral extraction in general, and has written about mining for EV minerals. She says that if you’re concerned about harms from mining, you’ll want to choose an EV over a comparable gas car.

Thea also cautioned, “The fact that mined products are in basically everything we use should give us pause.” She explained more about the environmental impacts of driving a gas/diesel vehicle, “A traditional car needs mining every day, needs mining every time it’s used. It needs the whole extraction complex of fossil fuels in order to power it.” There are myriad impacts from that mining. Oil extraction operations have caused regular oil spills that contaminate farmland, lakes and rivers, destroying crops and depleting animal and fish populations in Nigeria, destroying what native peoples need for survival. Similar tragedies have occurred in Ecuador, Angola, El Salvador, Brazil and Canada.

Yet the myth that EVs are worse for human health and the environment persists.Where does this disinformation come from?The US Senate Committee on Budget began hearings in 2024 on “Denial, Disinformation and Doublespeak: Big Oil’s Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change.” The Committee’s Joint Staff Report by the same name states: “The fossil fuel industry relies on trade associations to spread confusing and misleading narratives and to lobby against climate action. Fossil fuel companies use trade associations, think tanks, and other nonprofits to influence public policy proposals and messaging, including API and the Chamber, as well as the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, Natural Gas Supply Association, and Western States Petroleum Association.”

What’s the best way to go? Buy less stuff. You might consider whether you need a car at all, since no car is definitely the best!And if shopping to replace an existing vehicle, consider buying a small and efficient EV, to reduce the energy they use both in manufacturing and use.

Cynthia Bratz is a retired environmental engineer with expertise in clean water, sustainability and climate change.  She is a member of the Local 20/20 Climate group.