I’m in the camp that considers global warming (oops, sorry, “climate change”) to be a complete and total farce.
That said, if one subscribes to this crackpot theory, then it would behove one to take a look at ALL the sources of pollution generated by a motor vehicle.
It takes a huge amount of energy to produce a vehicle. It takes a huge amount of energy to recycle scrap metal. Much pollution is spewed in the process, directly and indirectly. It likely dwarfs the emissions caused in just operating the vehicle over, say, a five year period.
Cars that already exist used a lot of energy in their creation, but that cost is sunk - there’s nothing you can do about it. Ditto with the emissions those cars made - its done.
If these people REALLY cared about the environment, they would be doing everything they can to extend the lifetimes of existing vehicles, and improve their emissions as much as possible.
This could include retrofitting modern vehicle control systems on older vehicles, or transplanting newer powertrains. Oh, wait. The reason this isn’t done more often is that the government makes it illegal to “tamper with a vehicle pollution control system”, even if you are making it more efficient or effective than what the OEM provided.
As usual, control is more important than results.
Or better yet, take a look at ALL the pollution generated by our "public" transportation.
Buses running around town designed to carry 60 people transporting 2 - well, three if you count the driver.
An energy signature is more than just fuel that goes into the tank - it's the drivers salary - the people who administer that salary - the people they buy from, the grant writers, bus maintenance workers etc. In short it AIN'T just the "fuel" that goes in the tank. I'm not a nutcase greenie. But public transportation is a big waste of money, resources, and tax dollars.
Brain-dead liberals push public transportation that's nothing more than a way for them to feel good about themselves. If you have doubts, walk out and count the number of people riding a bus today. Then do the math - how much is spent to take one old lady 12 blocks. We could hire a personal driver for her cheaper - and have her picked up in front of her house. For the younger people it'd be cheaper to buy them all cars - maybe the "clunkers" Obama wants thrown away... Or best yet - add more capitalism to the system and it'll solve itself...
Yes, exactly. That was my first reaction. This bill is very wasteful, if it persuades people to trade in their cars earlier than they would have done. All that energy wasted to make an unnecessary new car; all that energy to scrap and recycle the old one.
“Waste not, want not” was a popular saying in the last Depression.
This bill goes directly against that good advice, from a generation of rich, yuppified congresscritters who probably trade in their personal cars every year on the government’s dime and change their fashions by buying new clothes twice a year, while taxing the hell out of everyone else.
“This could include retrofitting modern vehicle control systems on older vehicles, or transplanting newer powertrains. Oh, wait. The reason this isn’t done more often is that the government makes it illegal to “tamper with a vehicle pollution control system”, even if you are making it more efficient or effective than what the OEM provided.”
Yeah, this one really bugs me. I can’t fit a programmable ECU to my car because “it isn’t the original equipment,” even though I could tune it to make the car use LESS fuel and burn that fuel more cleanly. I also can’t advance the ignition timing because “it’s not within factory spec” even though I see big improvements in both power and fuel consumption.