Regarding "All new passenger cars to be electric by 2050: panel" in the July 26 edition, I'm sure Japan's automakers relish the opportunity to increase their already enormous profits by having over 30 years to make yet another windfall, this time by cornering the domestic market on electric passenger cars.
That is of course if there is any life left on Earth after another generation of suicidal human behavior. Whether it's warfare or just pollution, our race cannot survive without immediate and unselfish leadership.
Simply put, stop all private transport except bikes and disabled vehicles; make all commercial vehicles, the biggest polluters, electric immediately or take them off the road; then the bigger picture — stop nuclear power, non-biodegradable packaging, etc., and all household appliances including air conditioners (which are actually accelerating our planet's demise) and learn how to survive without the behavior that has brought us to this brink.
If these and all the other obvious steps are taken first, then we can start to consider measures that may save future generations instead of pipe-dreaming about the increased profits of the greediest few who seem the least interested of all of us in a human race that lives past 2050.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.