Reverse logic — get a Gas Guzzler

I live on the edge of Greater London and consciously chose a home that is easy walking distance from two train stations, plus has good bus service. When I moved here I did buy a car, knowing I would only drive it occasionally. In fact, I only now drive it less than 4,000 miles a year.

Knowing this, I did look at EVs and Hybrids, but the closer I looked, the more I realised that the carbon cost of EV manufacture then ultimate battery disposal is very high, so it is lower cost to the planet for low mileage drivers to actually drive a petrol car with good fuel economy. I therefore bought one such vehicle and have average over 50mpg on long journeys and around 35mpg on short town trips. BTW don’t get me started on hybrids, as the more I researched them the more they appear to be the worst of all worlds.

Ok, so far, so virtuous, huh?

Well, until I read a recent piece by Tim Harford, called: “Buy a coal mine, drive a gas guzzler, and other uses of reverse logic”, in which I saw this:

All this set me wondering about other problems we could fix by reversing the usual logic and doing the exact opposite of what one might expect. Here’s a thought: environmentalists should fight climate change by buying coal mines. Coal is the most carbon-intensive of all mainstream fuel sources, so any response to climate change is going to involve closing coal mines. An environmentalist organisation could do this by buying them and shuttering them.

This idea was proposed in…