"Jim Thompson" wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:25:57 -0800, "Joel Koltner"
wrote:
That perhaps just the "market" would sort
things out -- consumers would demand cleaner-running cars once air pollution
became bad enough?
Not then, but I think the public is more attuned to "clean" now.

OK. Would you go so far as to say the air would be as clean today as it is if
government hadn't stepped in back in the '60s? That seems pretty unlikely to
me.

I'm against the government, the dumbest bunch of people on the planet,
deciding HOW it should be done.

Yeah, perennial problem though -- by definition the government is the only
group that can compel auto-makers to meet emission requirements, but almost by
definition government's actions always have a high degree of politics mixed in
with any decent scientific reporting.

No. It's quite foolish. Most of the people will end up driving light
weight cars that are unsafe. Of course I'll still be driving my tank.
Want to collide ?:-)

Mmm... no. The comparison isn't entirely black and white, though: Yes, more
people will likely be killed in collisions between larger vehicles and lighter
ones, but how many people are saved due to less pollution kicking about? The
former is easy to measure while the later is pretty much impossible...

At times I have difficulty not just thinking, "You know, how about if we just
halve the population and now everyone gets to drive a car that's half as fuel
efficient and pollution still remains the same?"

---Joel