Handling the Greenies?

[StephenC]

Mike:

You liked that did ya'?

I thunked it up all by myself.

[cobra potato]

consider If I may.The fact that no cobra will ever be recycled.(no junk cobras anywhere)The amount of energy it takes to make a new car that is a non polluter.The enrgy it take to make a cobra.These are factors.And we can also put very exitoc albeit not cobra engine contols on these cars and they wouldnt pollute.I read a article about such a thing on a shelby engine.Besides how long do you need to go full throtle to get up to speed.

[badrich]

Mike: I don't normally have any problems with wimpy Sierra Club ecotypes, but since both my cars are low to the ground, I do have an occasional problem with gargantuan, yuppie SUV tanks that block out the sun and all traffic in front of me, especially if they are belching that horrible smelling diesel exhaust (with all due respect, leadslingndaddy). Of course, they aren't in front of me for long. Have you ever considered converting to biodiesel, which smells so much better (like French fries)? ; ) Rich

[leadslingndaddy]

Rich,

No problem...But what I REALLY hate is the idiot in the YUGO/Honda MFV?/Fiesta in the left lane of the Capital Area Belt(Race)Way....Doing 45-55mph and not looking around just staring ahead in a daze....

Mentality of, I'm doing 55, that is the speed limit...

Just let us dig in the frozen Tundra of Alaska and we would have more than enough fuel..But then again the liberals are against that too....Seems the drilling and work would cause thawing of the vegatation and better feed the animal population, this in turn would be a positive effect on the environment.

And can I hear a cheer for Global Warming??!!

[mj_duell]

Hi Guys,
Well I have been reading the continuing posts on this subject all last night and this morning. I am enjoying the input. Please remember why I had originally started my rant. With that let me say: We are the only country that carries this much guilt. The average environmentalists that I come in contact with seem to be good people with a good cause and work within the realm of logic. It's the ones that believe that by taking away what they feel is wrong that I have issue with. We could all work together on the problem and them everyone would be happy. Now, on to the part about guilt. Lets imagine for a moment that we are all forced to drive hybrids and all of the factories that produce any form of pollution are shut down. Everything in the country is clean and we feel just ducky now with 100 million autos added to the junkyards. O.K. we still have a major problem, other than our freedom being stripped away. First, all of the jobs from the companies who shut down there factories are now over seas were there are no environment laws (sound familiar?). Secondly, because of everyone being forced to drive the same small hybrid car, thousands more are out of work because there will be no automotive performance industry. Now the big one. The air will continue to be polluted to a degree. Countries like China, India, Mexico and a dozen others will continue to spew filth into the air. Lets not forget the Earth itself. Where do we send the clean up bill for Mt. Saint Helens? We have become so self-righteous and guilty in this country that we are removing the base freedoms and securities that this country is based on. Lastly, Environmentalist got a bad name because of a few extremists "Eco-Nazis". How is it that they are helping the Earth when they burn down a Hummer dealership and fill the air with burning toxins? Rant for today over.

Could be a sugar imbalance...off to get a bagel.




---Mike

[SpitzSpitz]

Bob in ct, please look in the mirror and take offense, mj_duell beat me to the punch, Please, please, please, sell your cobra and be consistent or keep your cobra and not be so Judgmental.
I have to admit, I don't give a rats A$$ about my lack of gas mileage, thats my business, and none of yours, if you don't like it, you can pay for my gas and I will let you have some input.

Bob can you say live and let live.

V/R Spitz

[Gas_in_my_veins]

Just two small comments concerning this topic-

-The freedom of this country is based on rights and responsibilities. We all have the Right to drive a car that gets poor gas mileage. However, we have a Responsibility to not allow it to get out of hand. What the 'radical' environmentalists fail to understand is that in a free society, when a right is not being used responsibly, ultimately there is nothing you can do about it. If that wasn't the case, when the press makes a false statement, you might as well scrap the first amendment. When a gun owner murders someone, you may as well scrap the second amendment; and so on and so forth. When you're as self-righteous as some of them (and I have one in the family so I know just 'right' they assume themselves to be), this point seems to get lost.

-Hybrids are not the great cure. They use a LOT of batteries, and when it comes time to recycle those vehicles, I will take a clean burning gas engine anyday over complex chemicals and corrosive additives that those batteries contain.

Cheers,

Rich

[SpitzSpitz]

gas_in_my_veins you are right on, about rights. Also I agree with you on the hybrids and batteries, as far as I'm concern already Obsolete Technology. So whats the answer, once resources start to get in short supply the market will come up with the answer very quickly.

I work with zero point energy, very interesting stuff! Probably a couple a hundred years away from utilization if ever, but we don't need an answer like that for now.

Spitz

[mj_duell]

Gas_in_my_veins,
Very well put.


Everyone,
I like hearing all of the different viewpoints here at CC. There seems too be some very intelligent people on the forum. There are also some gasholes! Thank God! Keeps things interesting! Keep the posts coming



--Mike

[klayfish]

Mike,
Just take 'em for a ride in the car. The next day, he'll be reading every Cobra book, saving for gas money, and eating more leafy greens to avoid the guilt he'll feel when he builds one!!!

Steve

[Gas_in_my_veins]

One other thing-

-personnally, I don't think there is an answer. If you run the car on corn (ethanol) you still have emissions and there are less BTU's per volume. Run on hydrogen and it takes an awfully lot of energy to split water molecules to create hydrogen. Run on electricity, pollution from dead batteries and pollution from power plants. There is no good answer, and this is where you ultimately unveil the 'greenies' point. In the end, it's not about going to a better energy source, it's about control. Just like every other group out there. I gauantee you that the moment we switched every car over to hybrids, they'd @#!%& about the battery pollution. Switch to electric cars, same thing; and so on and so forth. Ultimately, it's about controlling the majority with what a particular group feels is 'right'.

On a side note, I also am an avid ATVer. And I run into the same thing there. Here in Minnesota, greenies complained about people riding in ditches in the spring during the wet season. So ATVer's had to stop riding in the ditches in the spring. Then it was riding in ditches at all. So no more riding in ditches at all. Then the snowmobile trails in the summer. Then old logging trails. Then backyard marshes. Each time, they claimed it was just that one thing, and then nature would be fine. But the moment they over one hill, they set they're sights on the next. Because ultimately, they don't want you there at all.

Cheers,

Rich

PS Could someone email me with a description of 'zero point' energy? Never heard of that one.

[mj_duell]

Gas_in_my_veins,
I know how you feel. The same thing happened here. There were these great Moto-X trials close to my house when I was a kid. They ran through the woods next to a set of railroad tracks. One day about five years ago I happened to go down near the tracks to show a friend the old trails. There was a sign saying "No Motorized vehicles" and that the area was now a preserve for the town. What exactly were they preserving? As far as I knew animals don't make their homes next to railroad tracks.

It does seem to be about agendas. And it also seems that their philosophies are not based in logic. A while back there was a religious group of environmentalist who had an ad campaign with the slogan "What would Jesus drive?" I'm sure you have heard this one. After thinking about it for a few minutes I can up with a valid answer. Jesus was a carpenter who always had people to haul around. Sounds like he would be driving a F150 extended cab to me!



--Mike

[Katauskas]

I've heard that just filling your tank at the gas station emits more emissions than driving. Has anyone else heard of this?

[mj_duell]

Sometimes I emits more emissions than driving.
:

--Mike

[petek]

Nuclear powered steam cars! Yup, them's the ticket!

[arctic-snake]

I agree that the enviroment is an improtant issue. But up until the time we are all standing/traveling naked, eating nothing but organically grown vegatables and living in caves we are ALL guilty of pollution. Damn hipocrites.

[wilf leek]

You guys simply don't have the right approach.

We all agree that our economies, based on fossil fuels, are a "bad" thing, and "could" lead to an environment so degraded that human life becomes, if not impossible, at least intolerable.

Anything which hastens the end of this simplistic reliance on dinosaur fuels can only be a good thing, and hasten the development and use of clean, renewable fuel sources.

Therefore I consider it my civic duty to bring this about as soon as possible by achieving 4mpg on the track and 12-15mpg on the road in my Cobra!

Use that stuff up quick, that's the ticket.

(BTW I once advanced this argument to a particularly annoying green idiot. He never bothered me again after that.)

Lastly, on a serious note, the "hydrogen is the fuel of the future" lobby are blowin it out of their a$$es. Apart from the total lack of infrastructure to distribute such a fuel, which I give you could be built up over, say 30 years, where does it come from in the first place? Clean electrolysis claim the adherents. And where does the electricity for that come from?...................Dirty old power stations.

If you want to take a dollar bet with me, I put money on petrol/electric hybrids being the car of the future for the foreseeable future. Take a look at the Lexus Harrier 400 for a view of the REAL future.

[SpitzSpitz]

wilf leek

Spitz

[StephenC]

MJ:

In his early years when he was a carpenter, Jesus probably would have driven a pickup of some type. Later on, however, he would have had to move up to something much larger. After all, he had 12 guys following him around.

"Yea, though I drive through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil."

[mj_duell]

StephenC,



Priceless!

--Mike