Comment 31169

By whats the point (anonymous) | Posted May 20, 2009 at 20:16:38

nobrainer

I think again a point is being missed. I, as with most people do not want harm to befall me at the expense of others bad "choices." I believe that when making the choice of an automobile no one knowingly searches out the one that causes the most harm as a key buying feature, with harm being direct from accidents and indirect as from pollution. People find one that they like and buy it. Every one in the united states could drive a monster truck and the pollution it caused would be marginal compared to the same kind of pollution caused by other sources and other entire countries. Going on a modern day witch hunt for trucks in the US only shows that the world is slow to change its ways and grasp the reality of whats happening. If there was a truck that had zero emissions that has the same capabilities as say even a ford f-150, I think people would buy it but there is not one to date that does. I would gladly pay for public transportation by way of taxes or direct charges, if it replaced the need for a personal automobile. I did this when I lived in Washington DC, I had no automobile for two years and never had a problem getting around. Many friends live in NYC and do not own vehicles because there is no need for them. Today though, there is no such public transportation in my region.

In regards to punching people in the face:
In some countries it is perfectly within your rights to smack someone that you dont like for no better reason than you dont like them. Hell in some countries you are perfectly within your rights to stone someone because you disapprove their actions. Look at alcohol, why is it not illegal? Its arguably very bad for you and any one around you while you are drinking. A majority of the people like alcohol and majority rules. Some time in the future the majority may denounce the pollution of the atmosphere by personal automobiles. But as long as people have no viable zero emission solution to get to work the personal automobile is king. The time of zero emission automobiles is not upon us and although it may be sooner coming to the US, many countries may never adopt emissions policies. So where does that leave us? Science has shown that pollution changes our ecosystems on planet earth. At the point we are at the solution may be worse than the problem. Its easy to see that something is harmful after you have done it but much much harder to predict the consequences of your actions in the future. The solution is smarter people, not banning automobiles. If we were smart we would not have automobiles in the first place because they are grossly inefficient in many aspects when looked at as mass transportation which is what 99% of drivers in the world use them for. Until I have an other option I am glad that I can choose a vehicle that suits me, whether that be a Prius or a 10 ton pickup truck.

Do you have any opinions on personal firearms and the danger they pose?

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