It also keeps European mfg out of "their backyard" thereby solving the competition issue. The Fortune 500 are in business to make money. Any social issues they involve themselves in go to their making money. That is the alpha and the omega of it.
Kirk -----Original Message----- From: Harmon Seaver [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, June 07, 2002 6:07 AM To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [biofuel] Re: EPA Ruling Backfires, Spurs Sales of Diesel Trucks On Fri, Jun 07, 2002 at 04:26:16AM -0000, motie_d wrote: > > I'm hesitant to jump into the middle of a hot debate, but IMHO the > reason Cummins doesn't (not can't) build better Diesel engines, is > the same reason Mercedes VW etc. won't/don't sell them here. Very > poor fuel! Yes -- but it's the US auto industry, working hand and glove with Big Oil, who has shot down attempts to clean up diesel fuel. Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy -- because we know if Detroit started demanding cleaner fuel, it would be happen quickly, but we also know the incestuous relationship there where the oil companies help the auto companies fight off milage requirements and then they return the favor via the clean fuel issue. > > A provocative thought...Who is really more technically advanced? The > engine builders that can only use highly refined European fuels, or > the ones who can run on the junk fuel we have in the US? Are we maybe > comparing Apples and Oranges? It's not only who is more advanced, but who is more responsible. Let's face it, the US auto industry has built junk for decades. Think about it -- isn't it much easier to build a a low-efficiency engine that burns low quality fuel and gets low milage than to design a hi-tech engine that takes advantage of better fuel? > Would it be a fair comparison to run a European engine on our junk > fuel, and an American engine on European fuel? Which manufacturers > will willingly provide warranty service for their engine if such a > test were to be scheduled? > My understanding is that the European (and Japanese) engines don't have that much problem running on our fuel, they just can't meet emission tests when they do, and why should they be expected to? Both industry and gov't knew decades ago that fuels needed to be cleaned up -- what are they waiting for? It should have been mandated 20 years ago. Instead we see the EPA blocking small biodiesel production -- what a sick joke. High sulfur fuel and coal is responsible for acid rain, we've known this for at least 40 years -- why is it still being burned and clean fuels being stonewalled? Pretty sick. I think we need much tighter controls on the trucking industry all across the board -- both in air pollution and noise pollution, why should they be exempt? Same with tractors and construction equipment and boats and planes. For some time now I've been thinking of starting a website to solicit funds for a class action lawsuit against Harley-Davidson for building an unsafe product - unsafe in that they violate all motor vehcle muffler laws right out of the showroom. It would be a pretty easy case to win, and the funds generated could then be used to hit all the other manufacturers of noisy machines. Back in '62 a friend of mine bought a brand new BMW motorcycle. It was so quiet you literally couldn't tell if it was running unless you put your hand on it or looked at the tach. It totally amazed those of us who grew up with Harley's (my first bike was a '47 Harley, btw). There's just no excuse for all those noisy, smoke belching machines -- the technolgy to build better stuff has been around for a long time -- why is US industry dragging it's feet? I think it's more a matter of a cowboy attitude than anything else -- the macho "I'll do what I want and to hell with everybody else" attitude we see so prevalent in US foreign policy and everything else. I was out fishing the other night and some asshole in a *huge* inboard boat with dual V8 engines and absolutely no mufflers was cruising up and down the river. What I would have given for a torpedo! -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.363 / Virus Database: 201 - Release Date: 5/21/2002 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.363 / Virus Database: 201 - Release Date: 5/21/2002 Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
