Originally posted by Dowding:
Most European cars have an engine capacity under 2000cc. There are big engined cars, but the proportion...
The Mercedes, BMW, Saabs, Volvos, Volkswagens, Toyotas, Hondas, Mitsubishis, etc, that european and japanese companies sell
in US have
the same power and fuel efficiency as the US brands.
Regardless what they are using in their countries, they criticise us for polluting while selling us the polluting cars.
Excuse me Miko, but do you want to explain how the world makes money out of your pollution? All the above companies are making money selling those brands to us.
you consume more natural resources per capita than any other developed nation in the world. Of coure, because we drive the gas guzzling cars. We live in wide spread suburbs instead of economical tightly-packed cities. We are guilty. But you sell us half of those cars to make money despite your claims for cleaner air, so you a complacent and hyppocritical.
You have heard of the Bhopal disaster? Explain how the thousands of Indians who died in that disaster profitted from your pollution Industrial accidents happen everywhere. That plant was operating according to Indian laws, employing indians and paying indian taxes and produced products that indians needed too.
How many English-owned plants operate outside England?
Any plant can blow. That's industrial age for you. Before that you got kicked by a horse or sacrificed to the gods.
You often whine about 'Euros' criticising your country, but how do you expect people to react when you spout crap about Europeans not washing etc? I was trying to be funny, but if you want to dwell on it, compare the statistics - showers taken per week, amount of water spent in the household, etc.
And what's this about the wonderful, zero emission engines you fit ALL your cars with over there? Or at least it seems that way from what you write - you imply it would actually be BETTER for people to breath the fumes from your exhausts rather than go running in a European city. That is exactly what I said. Because of tougher pollution standards in US, the cars sold here are equipped with special devices (catolythic converters, etc) at a cost of $500-$800 dollars per car. As a result, a new american car that consumes more fuel produces fumes that are much less noxious then a new small european car. It may be that the difference is mostly in the smell/taste but here it is.
The amount of water and CO2 is determined by the amount of fuel spent, but the really poisonous stuff, like CO, nitrogen and sulphur compaunds, dioxin, etc. are much better controlled here then in most of the Europe.
Considering the state Los Angeles gets in every time an inversion layer forms, I can't quite believe the picture you are painting. You are watching the movies from the 70s, right?
Just come and see. LA has a special weather conditions. Still, the smog problem improved drastically over the last 20 years in all US cities.
miko
[This message has been edited by miko2d (edited 04-02-2001).]
