If
Peak Oil were
a scam,
it's hard to understand why the Bush Admin. and
oil companies have been so keen to discredit the weight of scientific evidence pointing to Global Warming. The Bush Admin. has exerted enormous pressure on Federal Agency scientists and experts to censor all information about research and studies that affirm Global Warming
is a very serious, real issue -- while
oil companies have funded scientists, publications and school programs that repudiate Global Warming or otherwise confound the theory, making
it appear far more controversial and subject to 'debate' than
it really
is. The simplest way to explain this
is the Bush Admin. and
oil industry have
a vested interest in preventing widespread conservation measures and development/use of alternative energy sources, so as to discourage large infrastructure investments in alternatives and to keep
oil-use high, and increasing.
Admittedly, this
is very circumstantial evidence of special interest disguising the validity of Global Warming with implication for
Peak Oil, but that's in addition to the evidence that there are very real limits for recoverable
oil supplies that have serious implications for our industrialized world where
oil-use trends are increasing. As another example of obstacles to increased efficiency being put in-place to discourage conservation, the following article shows how rules and laws severely inhibit American consumer choices from buying high-efficiency low-pollution cars in some 42 states. This reveals the influence of the
oil lobby in limiting our access to relatively efficient, non-polluting cars.
So the technology
is available, not just with cars but with solar and wind energy systems that could have
a large impact on divesting our heavy dependency on
oil supplies. Why
is there so much pressure being applied to keep Americans addicted to
oil, in light of available options?
And too, the US's heavy foreign policy/military investment in the Middle East also argues strongly that
oil is a crucially limited resource.
*****
Dirty Secret: Green Cars Automakers Won't Sell You 2007-09-01,
msn.com
http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.asp ... id=4024974
On
a recent run from Boston to Cape Cod, I test drove the 2008 Honda
Accord, the latest version of this family favorite. The new Accord
boasts an environmental first:
a six-cylinder gasoline engine that's
cleaner than many hybrid systems. There's only one catch: You can't
actually buy this ultra-green Accord, or the four-cylinder version
that also produces near-zero pollution. That
is, unless you live
in California, New York or six other northeast states that follow
California's tougher pollution rules. Only there can you buy this
Accord, or the roughly two dozen other models that meet so-called
Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle standards, PZEV for short. Not only
can't you buy one, but the government says
it's currently illegal
for automakers to sell these green cars outside of the special
states. Under terms of the Clean Air Act - in the kind of delicious
irony only our government can pull off - anyone (dealer, consumer,
automaker) involved in an out-of-bounds PZEV sale could
be subject to civil fines of up to $27,500. Volvo sent its dealers
a memo alerting them to this fact, noting that its greenest S40 and
V50 models were only for the special states. So, just how green
is
a PZEV machine? Well, if you just cut your lawn with
a gas mower,
congratulations, you just put out more pollution in one hour than
these cars do in 2,000 miles of driving. Grill
a single juicy burger,
and you've cooked up the same hydrocarbon emissions as
a three-hour
drive in
a Ford Focus PZEV. As the California Air Resources Board
has noted, the tailpipe emissions of these cars can be cleaner than
the outside air in smoggy cities. PZEV models are already available
from Toyota, Ford, Honda, GM, Subaru, Volvo and VW. But chances
are, you've never heard of them.
Note: For many exciting articles about new, efficient and clean
energy inventions, click here.
by ninakat » Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:12 pm 
