New data from the American Lung Association has found that if the U.S. could transition to zero-emission vehicles and an electrical grid powered by clean, renewable energy, it could prevent 2.79 million pediatric asthma attacks and more than 500 infant mortalities by 2050.
That sounds like a strawman argument tbh. I didn't say anything along those lines. I in fact agree that electric cars are better, just like smaller cars are better too but the basic problem, that they are cars, always remains. What improves cities the most is reducing the number of cars and rededicating streets and parking lots to sidewalks, bike paths, gardens and public parks.
With the human population there is in the world today, I am afraid high density cities are necessary. Space is limited, without cities suburbia and villages would cover every square meter of land and there would be no space for the little nature that is still left.
Before cars were common, despite bicycles, trams, and trains all existing for a long time, our cities were filled with horses. Horses have this habit of shitting everywhere, and cars were welcomed because they made the cities cleaner and less disease ridden.
The horses filled a need that other things could not. Cars then filled that need. That needs still exists today, like it or not. It's best we make them as clean as we can.