Yeah, I'm hoping that the Obama team will see the major investments in infrastructure that are likely to be made in his administration as an opportunity to integrate a full-scale metrication program modeled on Australia's successful approach into those investments.
Ezra -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Carleton MacDonald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Clinton may not have even seen it; that legislation was a huge bill, and the > zinger that was slipped in to remove the deadline for highway metrication > was quite likely carefully buried so as to be almost unnoticeable. The > person who did this knew EXACTLY what he was doing. > > Carleton > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Victor Jockin > Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 17:14 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:40891] Re: More hints of US companies' readiness for > metric-only labellng > > I agree that we could see traditional units disappearing from some consumer > goods if FPLA is amended (bottled beverages would likely lead the way > again), but I'm not so sure about your faith in the Democrats. Members of > Congress from both parties are equally beholden to lobbyists (that would > exclude USMA, unfortunately, leaving us effectively voiceless). The same > lobbies often contribute most to whichever party happens to be in the > majority. > > It's also interesting to recall that Republicans Ford and Bush #1 took > pro-metric action during their administrations, while Democrat Clinton > signed some truly damaging anti-metric legislation on highways, even though > he could easily have sent the bill back to have those provisions removed. > > > -------------------------------------------------- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 1:49 PM > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Subject: [USMA:40890] More hints of US companies' readiness for metric-only > labellng > > > USMA list: > > > > I may have missed this change-over when it first happened, but I just > > noticed today that the Oral-B dental floss that I bought is now labeled > > with meters as the primary unit and the US Customary length in > > parentheses afterwards. > > > > I know that Glide dental floss (now also sporting the Crest brand) was the > > > first brand of dental floss to put metric in first position, but it seems > > like this trend is spreading. Once we are able to amend the Fair Packaging > > > and Labeling Act (FPLA) to allow metric-only labels here in the States in > > place of dual-unit labels (which I think will happen once Obama gets > > elected along with increased Democratic majorities in Congress), I suspect > > > metric-only labeling will spread like wildfire because of the way it > > simplifies manufacturing and inventories for US companies. > > > > This might also give the UKMA and other supporters more ammunition to > > convince UK companies and retail stores to drop "supplementary > > indications" altogether even if they are allowed to keep them (assuming > > the EU directive on units of measure is amended as proposed last year to > > allow them to continue to be used indefinitely). > > > > Ezra > > > > >
