The Fate of Gas Guzzlers in the Age of Electric Cars

As the West moves towards electric vehicles, many gas-powered cars are being shipped to developing countries like Benin, where demand for used cars is growing. The global market for used light-duty vehicles grew nearly 20% from 2015 to 2019, with the US exporting about 18% of the world's used vehicles. Many of these end up in West Africa, where regulations aimed at reducing pollution and increasing safety have tended to be weak. Experts say the effect will be to divert climate and environmental problems to countries that are the most vulnerable to the climate crisis, undermining their own attempts to cut planet-warming pollution.