Letter to the Editor: Solutions before production

I appreciate the discourse with Bill Battigan regarding our trend towards more sustainable energy production and transportation (solar power & electric vehicle use as examples). But, the flaw I see in our historic and current manufacturing trends is the lack of emphasis or promotion of effective resource recycling. Historically, we have a poor record recycling anything. We make things, mandate their production in some cases like EVs or solar panels in California, but just throw them away when we are done. Is it wrong to demand that manufacturers consider the recyclability BEFORE production? Plus, the fallacy that EV and solar use will solve all our problems without human behavior changes. Driving EVs will not solve traffic congestion, unless we chose to drive less, or financially promote more public transportation, for example. Solar and battery manufacturing is also too dependent on foreign mining and manufacturing of limited resources, without adequate resource recycling, stable domestic supplies or environmental protection. Please read the Op-Ed from the LA Times: “Think bigger. Switching to electric cars isn’t enough.” (https://www.yahoo.com/news/op-ed-think-bigger-switching-100012368.html)

Dave Valle

Portola