| Dear Letters Editor: When AP writer Steve Lawrence says "Now the Air Resources Board is facing a decision on whether to take the state to a new level: by requiring that up to 10% of new cars and light trucks produce no pollution at all" (1/17), he should say "take the state to a new level of stupidity." To say that battery-powered vehicles "produce no pollution at all" is a lie. Thanks to the conversion losses from thermally generated energy to chemical energy in a battery to mechanical energy, they actually produce more pollution than gasoline powered vehicles. The only difference is the pollution is at the power plant. Fuel cells are much closer to being non-polluting, but any analysis of pollution for comparision purposes must include all waste from materials mining, fabrication, manufacture, assembly, shipping, use, recycling and disposal. This is a tedious task frought with assumptions and potenial errors. Reestablishing full property rights and responsibilities will accomplish the same end with much less effort. When the cost of audio and chemical emissions trespass is borne by private road owners and toll road users are accordingly charged for their emissions, then emissions will become a more significant buying criteria. The free market will automatically arrive at the best pollution/cost trade-off without taxes, regulations, boards or bureaucrats. End the stupidity. Vote Libertarian! Sincerely, Bill Holmes, Vice Chair Antelope Valley Libertarian Party P.O. Box 3202 Quartz Hill, California 93586 wtholmes@avlp.org, 661-943-7473 voice/fax http://avlp.org |
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