Sometimes I think We Lose Perspective...

[Dan Moadus]

Frankly, I'm content to leave well enough alone when it comes to clean air, especially if it means more jobs and cheaper energy.

"Frack baby frack".

[irishbobcat]

This far? No further?  What a load of crap, Ricky......

Why don't we say that about everything then?

No more advances in any technology.....any science.....any endeavor.......

God forbid that dirty industry should have to continue to improve on their environmental record.....

[Rick Rowlands]

The "best we can" may be one thing today, but another tomorrow.  It may also be too expensive to accomplish economically.  As scientists and inventors continue to tinker, what is the "Most Advanced Control Technologies" today may be obsolete in a couple of years. Do we ask business who has just spent megabucks installing a MACT compliant facility to tear it all out and build a new one to meet the new standards?  That is one of the big issues that has to be dealt with.  There has to be a point where we say "this far, no further", mandate that all emitters go to that standard but also give them an assurance that the govt. won't arbitrarily change the rules and make their investments worthless. 

[Towntalk]

Did you ever hear of asking a specific question to get a clear and concise answer since I was talking about nature created pollution and the thread started out discussing man made pollution. A very big difference my friend but apparently you don't watch the History Channel or PBS's Nova.

Dennis did answer the question about man made pollution but then I asked him how we are to deal with NATURE CAUSED POLLUTION over which we have no control.

It's as clear as cut glass crystal that we have no control over things like volcanos which spew out poisonous gasses, or lightning strikes which cause millions of dollars worth of damage to our forests each year. Neither of these actions have anything to do with Global Warming since they have been occurring for as long as there has been a planet Earth.

[Why?Town]

Dennis, you missed the point which is, at what point do we finally say that we've reached the point so far as clean air is concerned that we've done the best we could.

When we reach the point that we have done the best we can....then ask me.....

[irishbobcat]

Funny, Dan......coming from a man you never met a dirty smokestack he didn't like.....

[Dan Moadus]

How can we argue with people who think that every time we exhale, we pollute the air?

[Towntalk]

How do we deal with pollution not man made, and beyond our control?

Active volcanoes world wide

http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/world.html

http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/find_regions.cfm

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/about/faq/faqhazards.php

Forest Fires caused by lightning

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/09/27/2555175/lightning-ignites-fires-in-sequoia.html

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/sep/15/forest-service-reports-22-fires-lightning-strikes/

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/09/lightning_ignites_35_fires_in_umpqua_national_forest.html


No one would rather enjoy a pollution free walk through a forest than I, or to be able to enjoy camping at some mountain sight in Pennsylvania so it's not that I'm pro pollution, but I'm also a realist, and I know that we will never reach the degree of a pollution free planet that the environmentalists desire for the very reasons cited in the above links, and no amount of legislative action will silence "mother nature".

Our planet is a living organism built of flame and ever changing, and there is absolutely nothing we can do to put out that fire or halt it from spewing out its deadly gasses into our fragile atmosphere.

[irishbobcat]

When we reach the point that we have done the best we can....then ask me.....

we are not their yet.....

[Towntalk]

Dennis, you missed the point which is, at what point do we finally say that we've reached the point so far as clean air is concerned that we've done the best we could.

Even if we were able to acheve 100% clean air, we would not only have to deal with the forces of nature, ie, forest fires caused by lightning strikes, and volcanic actions which spew out deadly gasses, and there is no legislation posable to prevent these actions; and those underdeveloped countries that still rely on old methods to survive.

Indeed we've come a long way since 1905, and yet we still have to deal with air polution sent round the world from China and India. How do we get them to adopt our standards for air quality?

[irishbobcat]

Rick, the problem is we now know how dangerous dirty air is.......

just because you want to continue to bury your head in the sand regarding this issue

doesn't mean the rest of us want to live with dirty air that contributes to health problems

later in life......


What was the life expectancy in 1095? A lot shorter than it was today...... I want to live a long,
healthy life, Rick......I don't want it cut short because of dirty air leading to medical problems and bills
in the future.....

If you love dirty air so much, please feel free to wrap your mouth around my muffler and I'll be happy to
start my car for you.....

[Rick Rowlands]

This is a photo of a typical day in downtown Pittsburgh in 1905.  Some people, who really have nothing to complain about compared to those in this photo, will complain that our air quality is bad and responsible for death and destruction on a massive scale.  Yet, our ancestors not only lived through times when coal smoke literally filled the air, but thrived and prospered as well.

At what point do we draw the line and say that this nebulous goal of "clean air" is a moving target, ultimately unattainable and the pursuit of which beyond a certain point is inherently destructive?

http://www.shorpy.com/node/11412?size=_original