Opinion | Transitioning to Electric Vehicles in the U.S.

To the Editor:

Re “New Rule Aims to Push E.V.s to Fore” (Business, March 21):

I am 100 percent for electric vehicles. I commend President Biden for making such a bold and forward-thinking proposal. But the reality is that this may never happen in today’s America. As your story notes, fossil fuel companies and Republican attorneys general are likely to file legal challenges.

One thing that also needs to be addressed is the availability of the materials needed to make the batteries. We must realize how much damage is done to the environment in order to access these materials.

E.V.s will never become mainstream until some major infrastructure changes take place. These include the need for hundreds of thousands of charging stations across America, including fast-charging stations. Luckily, Mr. Biden’s green initiatives and infrastructure plans are already in place so these are beginning to take shape.

E.V.s must also see a huge increase in battery capacity, thus allowing users to drive longer distances on a single charge.

And finally, the cost of these vehicles must become affordable for those who have been unable to buy them in the past.

On the upside, like all technology, this will happen organically. As time goes on, E.V.s will become more affordable.

Prediction: It will take another seven to 10 years before E.V.s become mainstream.

Ben Milano
Lindenhurst, N.Y.

To the Editor:

Re “A Hybrid-First Strategy Is Paying Off for Toyota” (Business, March 13):

Toyota’s hybrid-first strategy may be delivering big profits right now, but Toyota stands to lose out to its competitors if the company refuses to make a significant transition to electric vehicles.

Where Toyota is getting it wrong is that the transition to electric vehicles is unavoidable. The transportation industry is the single largest U.S. source of greenhouse gas emissions, and hybrid vehicles still run on gas. E.V.s do not produce tailpipe emissions and are the best choice to eliminate carbon pollution.

Tracking short-term financial benefits — stock prices, earnings and sales — misses the point. While The Times notes that Toyota sold 15,000 E.V.s in the U.S. in 2023, I’m not impressed. Toyota is woefully behind the sales targets of competitor brands.

Toyota is at a precipice: The company can either continue to double down on gas-powered hybrids and risk becoming obsolete — or it can meaningfully start producing all-electric vehicles. Should Toyota continue to refuse an E.V. transition, its focus on hybrids will prove to be shortsighted, coming at the expense of worsening the climate crisis and devaluing the brand.

Ben Scott
London
The writer is head of automotive at Carbon Tracker.

Putin’s Anti-Gay Persecution

To the Editor:

Re “Putin’s War Against Queer Ukrainians,” by J. Lester Feder (Opinion guest essay, March 17):

I am a gay man of a certain age. My heart ached and my gut wrenched when I read Mr. Feder’s reports of Russian atrocities targeting L.G.B.T.Q. Ukrainians. As if Vladimir Putin’s politicized use of homophobia weren’t bad enough, wielding such hate as a weapon of war takes his depravity to whole new levels.

While I never experienced the targeted torture and persecution Ukrainian gays now experience, Mr. Feder’s piece reminded me that there were times and places here in the U.S. that absolutely made being gay unsafe. Given the recent rise in hate crimes of various sorts, including increased violence against gay people — not to mention potential rollbacks of gay rights by the radical right — we are moving back to those unsafe times.

It is imperative that the international community thoroughly investigate and prosecute all Russian war crimes, including crimes against L.G.B.T.Q. Ukrainians. That will be the first positive step toward eradicating violent anti-gay ideology in Ukraine and here at home.

S.S. Brown
San Diego

Church and State

To the Editor:

Re “G.O.P. Official in N. Carolina Sows Gospel of Far Right” (news article, March 19):

Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina, claims he can’t find the phrase “separation of church and state” in the “writings of any patriot, anywhere.”

He apparently didn’t look very far, because Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802 that the First Amendment’s establishment clause created “a wall of separation between Church & State” designed to keep the government from influencing religions.

To the Editor:

Re “I Asked My Mom if She Was Prepared to Die,” by Shaina Feinberg and Julia Rothman (Sunday Business, March 17):

In addition to the excellent advice in this article, I suggest writing your own obituary. Not all of us are lucky enough to have one written by reporters for The New York Times, but we can follow their model of having the basics prepared.

It’s shocking how many people don’t know all of their husband/wife/significant other’s relatives and friends; educational, professional or civic achievements; or even where they might want charitable donations sent.

Keep it with your other documents pertaining to your death — including the photo you want to accompany it — and you will relieve your loved ones of one more sad task as they mourn your passing.

Jana Goldman
Honor, Mich.

To the Editor:

The article about end-of-life planning offered many helpful ideas but it did not mention one that has put me more at ease: donating my body to science.

I reached out to a local medical school (in this case, the University of California San Francisco) and signed up for its Willed Body Program.

Not only will I rest knowing that my body is helping to educate the next generation of physicians, but the program also pays for everything, including pickup and cremation, so I can be assured that my family won’t spend our hard-earned money on inflated funeral expenses instead of on things that make them happy.

Lisa Tsering
El Cerrito, Calif.

Falling Birthrates

To the Editor:

Re “Birthrates Are Plummeting Worldwide. Why?” (“The Ezra Klein Show,” Opinion, nytimes.com, March 19):

That birthrates are plummeting around the world is testament to the fact that life is generally getting better. With rising incomes, there are more income-earning opportunities, particularly for women. In many countries the amount of education needed for a given job has increased. People are studying longer and working harder.

The cost of having a baby needs to be considered against the loss of income from a woman’s wages, a trade-off that was not required when jobs for women were relatively few and far between. As a consequence women are often choosing not to have babies.

Further, women are getting married later and having babies later in life, so they will end up having fewer children compared with women who start having children much earlier in life.

Ananish Chaudhuri
Auckland, New Zealand
The writer is professor of experimental economics at the University of Auckland and the author of the forthcoming “Economics: A Global Introduction.”