Harpo, where you on the debate team in school?

Very well thought out post!

 

Great post Harpo!

To think that not raising CAFE standards was viewed as helping the US industry! It now appears that it merely allowed them to wallow at the Truck/SUV trough while Honda and Toyota went whizzing by...

It's not too late though!

 

Robert (Harpo) Excellent Post, very well said.

 

I am not here to argue and I will not. I do feel impassioned to offer my thoughts, however. Cars and trucks in the U.S. comprise approximately .18% of all worldwide emissions both natrual and man-made. This is clearly not the place we need to attack. Industry is a much larger polluter than vehicle emissions. The county I live in recently did away with emissions testing because the number of cars in violation was almost non-existent. Auto manufacturers spend billions in research and development to comply with EPA standards for emissions. In the process, they have found ways to provide big horsepower while maintaining decent gas mileage. Now, I know that we all need to do our part to use less fuel( the middle east and all that B.S.), but I am not willing to give up horsepower. I am an American! And if I want big horsepower.....It is my God given right to have it!!! I did give up my huge truck (which I loved) in order to save some gas. I do plan on getting some muscle (Mustang) in the future. When I do, I will pay the going rate to fill up the tank.
I will leave you with this: Be careful who you listen to. For every scientist or politician who makes a good argument; there is another who can refute that argument. If you want to know the truth, you have to find out for yourself. We have learned so much about space and all the supposed unkowns of the universe, but we still know so little about our own planet.

 

Not vehicle emissions but still interesting:

Australia's largest city turns out the lights in energy conservation gesture
Published: Saturday, March 31, 2007 | 11:16 AM ET
Canadian Press: ROHAN SULLIVAN
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's largest city plunged itself into near-darkness for an hour on Saturday night when city officials, thousands of businesses and many more residents cut the lights for energy conservation.

The normally gleaming white sails of the Sydney Opera House darkened, as did the arch of the city's iconic harbour bridge, big chunks of the downtown skyline and countless homes in the city of four million in a gesture of concern about global warming.

"Tonight is a call to action," said Mayor Clover Moore, whose officials shut down all nonessential lights on city-owned buildings. "We all have to act to reduce our ecological footprint. We are asking people to think about what action they can take to fight global warming."

Restaurants throughout the city held candlelight-only dinners, and families gathered in public places to take part in a countdown to lights out, sending up a cheer when the lights started going out at 7:30 p.m. local time.

There was no master switch, though, and it took a few minutes for the effect to take hold as buildings went dark at slightly different times. Some floors in city skyscrapers remained lit and security and street lights stayed on, as did those at commercial port operations and at a sports stadium.

While downtown was significantly darker than normal, the overall effect, as seen in television footage from overhead helicopters, was that the city's patchwork of millions of tiny lights had thinned, not disappeared.

"We were expecting a big difference straight away, but it was just a little bit," said Sonja Schollen, who took sons Harry and James to a park to watch the skyline. "It was quite sweet, actually, because the kids started chanting 'Turn them out, turn them out.' You can see now the city's a bit dimmer."

Children waved glo-sticks and sparklers while parents picnicked and sipped wine.

Organizers hope Saturday's event, which about 2,000 businesses and more than 60,000 individuals signed up for online, will get people to think about regularly switching off nonessential lights, powering down computers and other simple measures they say could cut Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent in the next year.

Research by the University of New South Wales published last week found Sydney residents are poor at energy conservation, often leaving heaters and air conditioners running in empty rooms.

Saturday's event came a week before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN's influential network of 2,000 scientists, releases its latest report on climate change, which is expected to contain further dire warnings.

Leaked excerpts published in Australian media last week said average temperatures in the country could rise by 3.7 degrees Celsius by 2080, creating more wildfires, floods, drought and storms. The Great Barrier Reef is already under threat from increased coral bleaching, the report says.

Australia, a country of around 21 million people, is ranked as the world's worst greenhouse gas emitter per capita, largely because of its heavy reliance on coal-fired power stations.

Global warming has emerged this year as a mainstream political issue in Australia, and Prime Minister John Howard's government has announced initiatives such as the phased withdrawal from sale of energy-inefficient incandescent bulbs to blunt criticism of his refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol.

Supporters said Saturday's "Earth Hour" - as it was billed - showed that small individual actions can make a difference to a global problem.

"It's an hour of active, thoughtful darkness, a celebration of our awakening to climate change action," said Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who attended a harbourside function to watch the event.

More than 250 people went to Sydney's observatory in the hope the darkened skies would let them look further into space, though light from a nearly full moon was expected to dim the glow of the stars.

Sydney is not the first place to cut the lights for conservation. In February, Paris and other parts of France dimmed the lights for five minutes in a similar gesture, which also took hold in Rome and Athens.

 

Global warming: Does everyone realize that the earth has experienced climate peaks and plunges since the beginning of time? This global warming debate has become a cultural trend. Science has proven that long before man stepped foot on earth, the climate experienced much more radical changes than we could ever imagine. Yes, we do have some impact on the earth's environment. If we really want to change that.....we all would have to leave!!! As humans, we are the salt of the earth. We are always going to impact our environment. Let's focus on the proven facts. We need forests!! If you want to join a noble cause.....plant more trees!!!!

 

Industry is a bit hard to attack as these rules are in place that allow for polluting and trading some imaginary carbon credits with other pollution sources in other states, etc. Really weird bit of legislation there from our heroes in government.

Back to cahz.... ( I'm originally from Massachusetts )
I do want my HP Too! Don't believe for a minute I think ALL vehicles should be weenie econoboxes! But, a balancing act that aids us in freeing our dependence on foreign sources of fuel needs to be in place. Raising CAFE standards within our borders is a small but decent step in that direction.

Heck, I want a turbo HHR. I already run IRON MAN on premium, so why not get a few more HP too? But if Chevy had an HHR that got 40 plus MPG I'd have one of those as well. Just like I have my 4WD SUV. If you live where it snows, you should have at least one 4WD vehicle in your fleet.
Yes, I'm an American with a fleet of autos too, and I support all who have their own private fleets. It is good for the economy , but at present not as nationalistically friendly as it could be due to our dependence on that darn ferin' oil!
Keep on truckin' as they say....

 

Dubya's people say trees cause greenhouse gasses. So cut trees.?
Ok, climates change and we are along for the ride. Salt of the earth? I don't know 'bout you, but I'm not feeling like a spice, more like a burrowing rodent. We may as well try to be reciprocally nice to our planet, it's all we'll ever have....
I will plant a tree AFTER i get those wild thorn bushes out of my yard

 

On a serious note; you might want to take a trip to SoCal. There are more vehicles on the road here than in most of the country! I'm starting to believe that Southern California drivers are most responsible for global warming and envronmental impact!

Of course, we pay for that luxury with our inflated fuel prices!

But that doesn't make it any easier to swallow (for those with a conscience!).

Just my

 

I will bet "carbon credits" are more expensive in California.

Just be smart about what you do, not forced to do it out of fear. If we keep having to pass regulations, the government gets bigger and bigger. If we are willing to give up one thing now, what will we have to give up later, and then what after that. All politicians lie, we know that, and the media is misleading, so if people want to be so passionate about something, learn more about it, don't just go on what politicians and the media say. I know and have met to many people that believe in global warming and make that decision based on fear by what they are told or hear, and don't take a little time to check the other side of the story.