Are gas cars the cigarettes of the near future?

[creeg]

Im doing the electric car for 3 reasons:

1) dont have to pay for gas
2) minor environmental reasons
3) I get to say that I drive a zero-emissions car that I built.

I totally agree about the coal: an electric car is powered by coal when you get down to it. But if I understand it correctly, the pollution from a coal energy plant is less than from cars: its easier to scrub the exhaust from a coal plant than it is to scrub the tailpipe.

Also, I am not having any kids as a way to reduce pollution and overpopulation. That is probably one of the biggest ways I am reducing pollution: not reproducing.

And I do beleive that global warming is real, based on the evidence provided. sure, I could be mistaken- but then so is a lot of the world.

[nfpgasmask]

Chop, I am 100% with you. I know that the climate change issue is only 1 small facet of the gloabal problem, and climate change is just an avalanche effect of ALL of the things rapidly changing on the planet, due to people. Again, this thread, was really just me thinking about how society now "looks down" on smokers, and how I think it will take twice as long for society to "look down" upon people driving gas vehicles, and how it will be too late anyhow. That, and how even if we switched to an alternative source of transportation, how we will be left with MOUNTAINS of "old" gasoline vehicles.

Bart

You're buying the Global Warming thing, lock, stock and barrel? Your (as a species) CO2 output, all activities included, is around 3 or 4 percent of the total....marginally insignificant by itself. A big part of that 4 percent is coal...your car just really doesn't figure into the scheme in a huge way. What has been done, that really impacts stuff, is strip away the forests. They (and the ocean) are our carbon sinks. Yeah, it's gettin' warmer, but it's not your car that is doing it....it's strip malls, and farms in Brazil.....it's the Teak table in your dining room, and your Rosewood bed. I am a radical greenie....and I love all things automotive. Do we need something else to burn? Yes, and for a lot of good reasons, but warming ain't one of them. Wanna save the earth and it's marvelous, wondrous diversity of life???? Plant a tree a day, and shoot three of the next five people you meet, right between the eyes. Actually, getting the humans out of the tropics altogether would be much more productive, and just as likely to happen.
It's all short term anyway....it seems that when the salinity of the Arctic Ocean and North Sea drops low enough, the Gulf Stream stops streaming, all of Europe enters an ice age overnight (literally) and the warming problem is solved Earth... 1.....clever hairless ape...0 Thank You for the rant, Bart

[nfpgasmask]

Also, I am not having any kids as a way to reduce pollution and overpopulation. That is probably one of the biggest ways I am reducing pollution: not reproducing.

CHEERS, MATE! HERE, HERE FOR ZERO POPULATION GROWTH.

But I just watched Idiocracy....and this movie almost made me want to go home and make babies with the wife. Just watch the first 10 minutes of it, and you will see what I mean!

Bart

[Chopper]

Chop, I am 100% with you. I know that the climate change issue is only 1 small facet of the gloabal problem, and climate change is just an avalanche effect of ALL of the things rapidly changing on the planet, due to people. Again, this thread, was really just me thinking about how society now "looks down" on smokers, and how I think it will take twice as long for society to "look down" upon people driving gas vehicles, and how it will be too late anyhow. That, and how even if we switched to an alternative source of transportation, how we will be left with MOUNTAINS of "old" gasoline vehicles.

Bart

Volcanoes do a bunch more than humans, that is really where most of it comes from. As for the carcasses.....ultimately, they'll mine them....like the dumps.

[Mark B]

Civilization was stagnant for thousands of years. Man invented the wheel and built a cart and pulled it behind a horse. Thus the invention of transportation.
No one invented anything new for a very long time.
When the alien space ship crashed in Roswell, Nevada, the US government got all the current techonology from that ship to bring civilization to what it is today.
I am sure that we will find a way to invent some form of clean and economical transportation before we pollute the earth and run out of oil.
For now I still love to drive my VX.

[navistar]

Global warming and cooling is a natural, cyclic thing...period. It's caused by the Sun's radiation...duration, output level and type of nuclear activity.

But beyond the PC & BS there is no consensus among thousands of scientists that the Earth is experiencing a rise in average global temperature. It's a political agenda thing.

http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110008597
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/.../reg15n2g.html
http://www.populartechnology.net/200...l-warming.html
http://theanchoressonline.com/2007/0...lobal-warming/

and hundreds of other articles....

For those of you who are that concerned and want to do your part...cancel Moab.

[mdwyer]

Chop, I am 100% with you. I know that the climate change issue is only 1 small facet of the gloabal problem, and climate change is just an avalanche effect of ALL of the things rapidly changing on the planet, due to people. Again, this thread, was really just me thinking about how society now "looks down" on smokers, and how I think it will take twice as long for society to "look down" upon people driving gas vehicles, and how it will be too late anyhow. That, and how even if we switched to an alternative source of transportation, how we will be left with MOUNTAINS of "old" gasoline vehicles.

Bart

I think we already do look down on climate criminals. I certainly don't hold a whole lot of respect for this guy: What's wrong with this picture?
The sign is displaying the weight limit of a parking structure. Only the H3 fits under that limit. Many city streets have the exact same limit. If they actually enforced weight limits on city streets and parking structures, nobody'd be able to drive a Hummer anywhere.

Still, I can't quite make myself feel bad for buying fruit out of season and stuff like that. I'd really like to be able to take a train to places, but out in the west, we just want our cars too much. I'm certainly picking the low-hanging fruit -- I've got a programmable thermostat, CF lightbulbs, etc. But I'm still willing to spend $20 worth of gas to make it up to the mountains.

[navistar]

Is that an air intake for the engine while fording in deep water or a clean air intake for the passenger compartment or did somebody jam a golf club through his roof?

[Ldub]

For those of you who are that concerned and want to do your part...cancel Moab.

BLASPHEMY !...don't you blaspheme in here...

[nfpgasmask]

Well, this thread turned out to be as interesting as I thought it would be.

We are all very opinionated about what we think is happening. I'm sure there were similar conversations just like this one, about smoking. Take the below quotes, and change them a bit...

You're buying the smoking causes lung cancer thing, lock, stock and barrel?

Im quitting smoking for 3 reasons:
1) dont have to pay for cigarettes
2) minor health issues
3) I get to say that I kicked that dirty habit.

I am sure that we will find a way to make smoking safe before we all die from lung cancer. For now I still love to toke my Reds.

Lung cancer and heart attacks are hereditary, a genetic thing...period.

And finally, me:

CHEERS, MATE! HERE, HERE FOR SMOKE FREE RESTAURANTS!

But I just watched Thank You For Smoking....and this movie almost made me want to go to the store and buy a carton of Luckys. Just watch the first 10 minutes of it, and you will see what I mean!

So, you see what I am getting at here. This thread perfectly illustrates what I was originally writing about. I know this was a really odd thread, and probably both pointless and stupid, but...

I don't know what is true. I don't really know if smoking causes lung cancer or if greenhouse gasses really do cause climate change. But what I DO KNOW, is that there are consequences to human activity, and I don't think we as a species have the brain power, or the collective will to fix it before its to late.

Bart

[Scott Harness]

Go Bart!

[Griffin]

there are consequences to human activity

Bart

Ever wondered why? That is a deep thought right there.

[navistar]

Maybe there's something humanly profound in this quote I once saw.

"When I read about the dangers of smoking, it scared me so bad, I stopped reading."

[navistar]

Oh...and another one:

"Anyone can stop smoking...it takes a real man to die of lung cancer!"

[nfpgasmask]

Maybe there's something humanly profound in this quote I once saw.

"When I read about the dangers of smoking, it scared me so bad, I stopped reading."

Absolutely. This cuts right to the core of a very important, and detrimental aspect of human behavior. That is, that we would rather ignore problems until they individually smack us in the face. Ignorance is bliss. We have become a creature of convenience, and we don't like change either. And because of that, we simply won't change, until the loaded gun is pointing at our heads. And 9 times out of 10, that loaded gun has to blast away dollars for anything to happen.

Think about, if you got charged by the pound for every bag of trash you threw out that was not separated into recyclable piles, wouldn't you recycle? Its simple. Change will only take place when it impacts people's bottom line.

Bart