re: Crushing of Over 15 Year Old Cars

[bearbvd@domain.elided (Greg Hermann)]

At 9:31 AM 2/9/02, Jay Negrin wrote:
>David -
>
>I think the logic goes something like this:
>
>Newer cars must pass more stringent emissions tests.  The sooner we get
>the "older" cars off the road, the sooner we get cleaner air.
>
>What I think they are not taking completely into account is that some of
>the older cars (many of ours, for instance) are in the hands of those
>who will keep them running well.  Unfortunately, I am assuming, many
>more elderly statesmen of the highways are in the hands of those who
>don't have the desire or inclination to even put a set of new spark
>plugs in his/her cheap transportation module.  Hence, even higher
>emissions.  Catalytic converter needs replacement?  Easier and cheaper
>to find someone who can weld in a straight pipe than to spend one to two
>hundred to put in a new converter.  Of course this will work, in terms
>of reg and smog checks as long as there are those who will smog a car
>with the attitude of, "Don't ask any questions, and I won't have to
>lie."
>
>You get the picture I am sure.  So, without any exceptions to this sort
>of draconian rule, we are all, good and bad, lumped together.
>
Sound logic, and I am sure close to what goes on.

For those interested in FACTS regarding the general situation, the
following is a good read:

"The Skeptical Environmentalist" by Bjorn Lombourg

The following points which it makes may be of interest:

1. Air pollution is nothing new and has in fact been getting better rather
than worse for many years. The air quality in cities like London is back to
about the level of medieval times.

2. 92% of vehicular air pollution now comes from diesel engines.

3. Deforestation is a myth. Most loss of forests occurred hundreds of years
ago when land was cleared for agriculture and as timber was used for
building and shipping. About 1/3 of the land mass is covered by forest and
this proportion has remained more or less static for the last 50 years or so.

4. We are not in any danger of running out of fossil fuels. There is enough
coal for 230 years and enough oil (including shale oil) to satisfy our
total energy requirement for 5000 years (yes, that's 3 zeros).

5. Far from returning to feudal societies to save the planet it is much
more productive to generate wealth to be able to allocate funds to deal
with those problems which really do exist.

Greg
>
>Jay Negrin

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided