re: New study (confirming a 2008 study): Ethanol is worse for the environment than gas

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During a recent unveiling of the new Chevy Volt, Zimmerman demonstrated for the media how the supposedly “green” vehicle is simply plugged into a power source for energy. And this power source, at least in Michigan, is mostly burned coal.

A man in a suit pulled out the giant plug and waved it in front of the cameras, prompting laughter from the press, before inserting it into the Volt. A journalist then walks up to Zimmerman to ask her about the power source behind the plug.

“Because everybody thought we killed the electric vehicle, and we didn’t,” Zimmerman told the questioning press with a confident smirk.

“So what’s charging the batteries right now? What’s the source?” one member of the press asked in response.

“Well, here,” Zimmerman answered. “It’s coming from the building.”

“I mean, what’s their mix of power?” the press member then responded.

“Oh, actually Lansing feeds the building. Lansing feeds power to the building, so I don’t know … I’ll bet you they’re a bit of coal, oh they’re heavy on natural gas, aren’t they?”

J. Peter Lark from the Lansing Board of Water & Light, the power company Zimmerman was referring to, quickly cleared up the discrepancy.

“Right, it would be charging off the power grid which is about 95 percent coal,” Lark told the reporter.

In other words, nearly all of the energy used to power electric vehicles in Michigan comes from burned coal, which is far more polluting than the internal combustion of normal gasoline.

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