Date:         Thu, 11 Jul 1996 09:26:34 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Ron Lussier <coyote@zuni.chaco.com>
Subject:      Re: VW Customer Relations & reality check

At 10:46 AM 7/11/96 +0200, you wrote:
>You live in California. Which has probably the strictest emission laws in
>the world. And still you can't see across the valley. This makes me think
>that those emission control laws are not working too well.

No, it just means that we need Negative Population Growth.  People need to
stop breeding, so that we get less cars on the road, rather than more
every year.

>Another point is that an old VW with a non-standard carb and without half
>the emission stuff can still produce less smog than a brand new (insert
>brand here), since a 1600 pumps less air than a 3L, and the test measures
>percentages.

I'm not sure of this, but I believe that if there are some problems in the
test that they could be corrected.  There is no need to scrap the test
entirely.

>But that's not the point. Yes, I agree with you, 'emission SH*T' is probably
>too strong. Emission _hassles_ is probably more correct. Lead free petrol
>has been available locally since February. I don't know if any locally
>produced cars have cats yet. So there's a large amount of local development,
>tooling, etc required for us to export cars, especially to the USA.

Good lord, you've only had lead-free gasoline since February?!?  I'm
amazed that they sell leaded gasoline anywhere in the world!  Lead
is incredibly nasty stuff, especially for children.

>What I would like to see, here in SA, but also in other countries, is
>improved public transport. People who go to England or the rest of Europe
>come back amazed at what is possible. I hear that Atlanta also has a fairly
>good system. Also, we (SA) need more _Nuclear Power Stations_ (Oops, I see a
>flame war coming :-). I've been to Witbank (Up in the Transvaal, where they
>burn lots of coal to make electricity) and it's terrible. But right now coal
>mines provide a lot of jobs, so I don't see us shutting down those
>generators soon. Maybe we should start destroying old cars, then we might
>feel better about Witbank (wry grin, with a tear)

I have to agree with you entirely here.  We *do* need better public transit
systems, and we *should* start destroying old cars (or forcing them to 
upgrade to new engines.)

I'm not anti-nuclear, incidentally.  I *am* worried that we don't have a good
method of disposing of spent nuclear material.  I'd prefer that we fired the
stuff at the sun.  Until we have a permanent and safe method, nuclear energy
makes me a little edgy.  It's sort of like the Republican strategy of running
up huge deficits for short-term political gain.

Ron
--                                       
Ron 'Coyote' Lussier         /\_/\      ____             Chaco Communications
(408) 865-0657              (     )     \ _/__        10164 Parkwood Drive #8
coyote@chaco.com             \   /       \X  /       Cupertino, CA 95014-1533
(1990 VW Westfalia Camper)    \_/          \/    http://www.chaco.com/~coyote