There are two words that eviscerate the argument by demonstrating the ignorance of it (as if the fact that they need to deliberately zero out half the equation in their data isn’t enough):

Ecosystem Services.

I know it’s sarcastic, but that is true universally and thus wouldn’t explain a local trend that deviates from the trends on a broader scale.

That said, I believe there was a study recently that looked at the trend in pedestrian/car fatalities, compared that to the percentage of vehicles on the road classified as trucks, and the relative size and mass of trucks over the years and found some striking correlations. I’ll see if I can dig up the study.

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Fantastic twist.

Solarpunk meets the hubris of man, babylon-style.

Surprisingly I feel inspired to explore this darker (pun very much intended) spin on the concept a bit.