Should we feel guilty for the pollution?

[pwd72s]

I always like the letter I get every year from the State of California imploring me to consider helping reduce smog by selling my old car to them for $750...

Some years ago, HOT ROD did a featured rescue of what they dubbed a "Crusher Car". They looked over cars that the owners had decided to crush for the $750. Rescued one. A Camaro, if memory serves. They then "restored" it as only they could. Gave the results away in a promotion. When they were done, it "smogged" as well as any new car at the time. Wow! Wish I'd won...the car would still be driving if I had. Maybe it's still out there? I say, to HELL with the automobile hating "Greens"....sucking down dead dinosaurs is FUN! Old cars are FUN!

[72targa]

Peter:
The state of California offered you $750 for your old car, you should take it. They only offered me $500 . Isn't nice to drive a car that does not need to be smogged every two years.

I stand corrected (I couldn't remember the exact amount). I relish shredding the letter every year!

[bobmagyar]

Most of my miles are done in a Honda Civic so even when I did and soon will drive my 911S again my CO2 output will still be below average.

Compaired to collector cars of the early S era they get good milage.

[SandyI]

I'm thankful that California took the intiative to create stricter emmision standards that the rest of the country slowly adopted. I did live in Denver in the late-1970's when they had smog worse than L.A. So thank goodness for my liberal brothers and sisters who helped impose these limitations which lead to cleaner air for everyone. Even Republicans. (Who were sure that any type of exhaust limitation or minimum fleet miles per gallon requirement would lead to the end of the U.S. auto industry. When in fact it was 30 years of blind-as-a-bat auto design and inferior quality control that did them in. )

And no. I feel no guilt whatsoever driving my car 7,000 miles a year and polluting like hell. Someone's got to do it.

[CurtEgerer]

Tell me you guys aren't serious about this subject!!

From the EPA: one gas-powered lawn mower running for an hour emits as much pollution as driving 650 miles in a 1992 model automobile, never mind a pre-73!! Just quit cutting your lawns and you can drive another 650 miles each week .... guilt-free!

[pwd72s]

Tell me you guys aren't serious about this subject!!

From the EPA: one gas-powered lawn mower running for an hour emits as much pollution as driving 650 miles in a 1992 model automobile, never mind a pre-73!! Just quit cutting your lawns and you can drive another 650 miles each week .... guilt-free!

Ahhh, but did the EPA tell you that 25 square feet of lawn produces enough oxygen for one human? (Source: Oregon Grass Seed Council). My lawn is 1/3 acre in size. I'm producing lots of good air for you guys, so don't be too mad at me if I drive my old beater a couple of hundred miles tomorrow, okay?

[John Fusco]

You realize that that 1/3 acre would produce more of the good stuff if you didn't cut it ?

John

[pwd72s]

You realize that that 1/3 acre would produce more of the good stuff if you didn't cut it ?

John

Ahhh, but the local Sheriff wouldn't approve if I grew the REALLY good stuff! The back part of the property has fir trees growing on it. MORE oxygen for you city folks.

[A.T.]

I can feel a little guilty about it if I think about it. But what concerns me more are the new fuels we may soon have forced upon us, ie.methanol etc.
Isn't that going to be an issue soon?

[dvkk]

A Calif research study showed one car that did not pass emissions by a margin of 20% put out the same amount of polution as 10 cars which passed (or something very close to that).

Of course the CA gov't would have to initiate a study to do something any grade 4 student can. The math is simple.
An early carb'd engine with no controls, set-up properly would blow about 2% CO. A modern injected car with a CAT will easily produce readings below 0.05%. This means your older car produces as much CO as the next 40 cars running down the freeway. Neglect your ignition system or let your carbs get gummed up, the numbers go up from there. I had a friend with a Datsun Roadster that wouldn't run properly unless it blew more than 10%CO. What a pig.
If you feel guilty, you can have your car's induction properly set-up on a chassis dyno using at least a 5 gas analyzer. The operator/mechanic has to know what he's doing, and know what the readings mean.