Politics: Or other things that don't matter

[Dartagn]

like i said... Honda came up with a converter.. like the catalytic converter for gasoline that scrubs out the sulfur compounds to almost nothing.. but they aren't even ready for full productions themselves let alone licensing out to other and them getting going (they did announce they weren't going to keep all to themselves but license out when it became news they had patented it)

But like I said.. they have a diesel civic that was getting 50+ MPG using one of these that would be ok to sell in large numbers as a prototype this year... so only a year or two before full release.

That tech will be nice. Per the car mags deisels are quieter than they used to be and smoother too. But it will take a large American perception shift for anything like that to succeed in the larger market.

[godpigeon]

That tech will be nice. Per the car mags deisels are quieter than they used to be and smoother too. But it will take a large American perception shift for anything like that to succeed in the larger market.

hell i got a car last year... I'm hoping that for a daily commute car that diesels will be in full swing. I know the advantages and disadvantages. One of the higher taxes on diesel because it's seen as a business (trucking) or rich person's gas (Mercedes), should be gone by then.

[Kalais]

In some places in Alaska diesel cost less then regular unleaded gas. Not in the "big city" of anchorage but in smaller places its quite a bit less.

[Phire]

In some places in Alaska diesel cost less then regular unleaded gas. Not in the "big city" of anchorage but in smaller places its quite a bit less.

I wish I could find one of these smaller places. In my giant town of 3k people, diesel is a full dollar more than regular unleaded.

[ascanius]

You have to look beyond what the car puts out.

Diesel is as clean as it needs to be. California's laws are simply retarded. Too many liberals, looking at the small picture. It is too stringent, and doing nothing but hurting our economy. Our 2nd world rivals, China, India, you name it pollute WAY more than we do. Our laws make it that way... You want to save the world? Start with them.

However, with how much CAFE standards, Safety Laws, Stringent Emmisions control make cars harder and harder to make, the companies that make them suffer, and the money leaves our economy. Same goes with regulations affecting every major industry in this country. The only unregulated industry we have is banking, and that is why we are in recession as we speak.

Let me tie this together. America loses the political power to force other countrys to clean up themselves (What little we had to begin with.) but enviromentalists would rather focus here at home rather than anyone else. Even though we are a first world country with regulators and infrastructure and a reputation for stringency. We need to slowly, and smartly DEregulate the car industry (along with many others) to make ourselves stronger, to give us the clout to make others cleaner. See what I mean?

As for electric cars. You know that electricity comes from Coal plants right? Use more, make your bills go up with an electric car and the carbon footprint stays the same. When it is all said and done, it may even get worse... Get a clean running small car (You know how efficient Catalytic Converters are today?) and call it a day. Oh, and battery disposal when those things die is nothing short of devastating to the enviroment no matter what you do with them. Expensive too.

You've obviously never been to the SF or LA area for an extended period of time. The smog here is horrible, and has serious health consequences for many people. The amount of children with asthma and other breathing disorders (caused by air pollution) is rising steadily, and pollution is at the point where on certain days children aren't let outside during breaks in fear that mass attacks may occur. India and China have the fastest growing economies because they have way more people than we do, and therefore their markets have a much greater demand force. It has nothing to do with emission standards in California.

Oil prices are going to to continue to rise, probably indefinitely. Switching to alternate fuels for economic reasons alone will be a necessity for personal transportation. Lessening the impact on air will be a bonus. On a side note, our car industry is in the shitter because of stupidity on their part, and not regulations.

[Dartagn]

You've obviously never been to the SF or LA area for an extended period of time. The smog here is horrible, and has serious health consequences for many people. The amount of children with asthma and other breathing disorders (caused by air pollution) is rising steadily, and pollution is at the point where on certain days children aren't let outside during breaks in fear that mass attacks may occur. India and China have the fastest growing economies because they have way more people than we do, and therefore their markets have a much greater demand force. It has nothing to do with emission standards in California.

Oil prices are going to to continue to rise, probably indefinitely. Switching to alternate fuels for economic reasons alone will be a necessity for personal transportation. Lessening the impact on air will be a bonus. On a side note, our car industry is in the shitter because of stupidity on their part, and not regulations.

See my other post for opinions on LA and areas. You reap what you sew, and no amount of regs and cleaner cars will make up for the sheer amount of people there. Spreading out is the only real solution...

I mentioned only that our economy is failing, not that theirs is growing. They could have the capability to expand without direct loss from our coffers. Not without some, there is only so much money in the world, but every fall here gives them power.

On the broad and narrow scale the pollution they produce is greater and worse for the world than anything we have done in the last century... Alternate fuels are nice and all, yes oil is precious, but they are alternate for a reason. Use the oil while we have it and develop the tech for tomorrow. Pretty much the way we do it now.

Also, very, very few people legitimatly look at the plastics industries and how much we rely on that to enjoy our first world life today. Plastic will be just as big a loss to our world as fuel when the oil runs thin. Prediction: Digging up landfills to recover plastics just to recycle them.

And, the car industry has shot itself in the foot (Left one). The reason the right one is bleeding is consumers (And the politicians we elect) alone. We are the ones who encouraged and required the quality of our cars all along. We bought them.

[godpigeon]

spreading out is part of the problem.. instead of a really tight environment like new york people moved out of the county even and have 1-2 hour commutes (without any traffic).

[Preest]

Anyone see the Matt Damon interview? The guy says what I've been thinking all this time..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6urw_PWHYk


Discuss...

[Eadres]

Dart hit the nail on the head, diesel is what more people should be looking at. I think the new VW Jetta diesel will be a 50 state car, meaning it meets emission standards for all 50 states. All electric cars that go over 100 miles are ridiculously expensive. The new Chevy Volt supposedly only has a 40 mile range, making it impracticable for most people that have any kind of a commute. If more people would adopt diesel vehicles it would reduce our oil consumption greatly. In our family we have two Volkswagen Jetta's, one gets 48 mpg highway and the other gets 51, and they don't require batteries that are horrible for the environment to build and dispose of. We also have several 3/4 and 1 ton diesel pickups that average 20-25 mpg, better than the gas alternatives that only get 13 mpg. Maybe if we added some more refinement capacity for diesel to bring the price down to that lower of gasoline it would create an incentive for more people to switch.

When I look back on the history of diesel passenger cars in the US I think Chevrolet destroyed the market for them in the early 1980's with the pieces of crap they built.

[Eadres]

Anyone see the Matt Damon interview? The guy says what I've been thinking all this time..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6urw_PWHYk


Discuss...

Matt Damon is a tool.