As I said in my earlier post, I have no need to get into a political argument, AND that I am willing to respect the point of view of others. Perhaps I am wrong, but it comes across to me that you are steamed at what I've posted.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Crystal clarity, well, we'd shut down the country or world to get that. Whats practical?)</font>
I don't see where I said or implied that we needed to shut down the world. I made a factual statement that after some storms, from the center of the valley, I can see both ranges with crystal clarity. I did not say anything to the effect that we need to take measures to insure perpetual clarity.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think we have gotten better, much better. I know I can see the Sierras from the foothills quite well. Remember, you are looking through about 80 miles of air when you see them. )</font>
The air quality in L.A. has gotten better. The Central Valley has gotten worse, particularly around the cities. (BTW, it is "Sierra", not "Sierras".) You are incorrect that I look through 80 miles of air to see the mountains. From the point of which I spoke, it is about 40 mi. east to the Crystal Range of the Sierra and about 35 mi. west to the coastal ranges just east of Fairfield. Yes, perhaps YOU look across 80 miles from one range to another. I remember being atop a peak at Squaw Valley ski resort one day in the 1970s and being able to see all of the Central Valley and all of the Coast Ranges both north and south to the horizon. Now, whenever I am driving down U.S. 50, descending from Cameron Park and El Dorado Hills, it is rare for me to see even the tall buildings in downtown Sacotomatoes.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( This valley has huge agricultural operations. Not all that we see is a by product of combustion engines. Dust, burning of agricultural waste contributes plenty.)</font>
Where have I said or implied that it is all a byproduct of internal combustion engines? The ag operations do contribute a lot: ag chemicals with VOCs, dust from plowing, rice field burning, dust from rampant construction (even asbestos in El Dorado Hills). The Bakersfield region of Kern County produces more oil than the entire state of Oklahoma. There is burnoff from the wells. That same region has the dried up lake bed of Tulare Lake where alkali and salts are blown up as part of the dust. Pollen in spring and mold in autumn contribute greatly to allergies. The topic was tractor pollution controls, therefore I restricted my observations to that topic only. I further acknowledged that pollution from tractors is far less than other internal combustion engines in total.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We do get the inversion days like many places, but that is infrequent enough.)</font>
This is simply not correct. Our inversions are among the worst (except for the newly industrialized cities in China, etc. I have traveled in those cities and they make our valley seem like a paradise). We are under constant threat of having federal highway funding withheld due to our number of days of extreme air quality exceeding EPA limits. Sacramento is listed among the very worst American cities for air pollution, and our standing is rising. We are not like China, yet when I stand and watch 20% of my 9 and 10 year old children gasping for breath right in front of me, I want to find some countermeasures if reasonably possible.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Pursue cleaner everything, sure, but as mentioned, do it smart.)</font>
I have no disagreement with that.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We now clean our water to the nth degree at a cost of many millions of dollars for every water district. It's easy to vote in because who does not want clean water. The fact is, 98% of our water is used on everything but for us to drink. It would be cheaper to install your own water still and drink that. )</font>
I agree with this. I think the standards for potable water do not need to be applied to water for other domestic usage. In some suburbs east of San Diego, El Cajon I believe, water leaving the sewage treatment plant is sent back out in separate pipes for lawn irrigation. I think that makes perfect sense. The percent of water NOT used for human consumption is more like 99.999 percent. I did not address water quality before as it was not part of Junkman's question.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Not to mention have you ever given thought about what the water must travel through to get to your house? The amount of time the water will sit in a pipe without redisenfection?)</font>
Actually, I am quite aware of this. In the old heart of Boston it flows through 400+ year old hollow, decomposing logs. I'm not sure why you are making an issue of this with me. The topic was not water quality. It was whether tractors needed air pollution controls.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( An issue in winter.)</font>
It takes a sentence with a subject and a predicate to express a complete thought. In other places I was able to infer the meaning of your sentence fragments, but this one is too unclear to guess.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We don't always do it smart. I'm all for ways to improve anything, do it smart. It requires more then looking out the window of an airplane and say "we need cleaner cars, I see smog" Do it, but do it smart.)</font>
I do not see where I called for any specific action other than at least minimally rudimentary pollution controls on all IC engines. One could also infer that I meant that two stroke engines are not cost effective contrasted to the pollution they cause. Because the topic was pollution controls on tractors, I restricted my observations to that subject. As I said in the other post, my attempt was to state factual observations and avoid opinion. We do have limited resources to apply toward pollution controls and I wholeheartedly agree that those resources should be applied in the smartest and most cost effective manner. I agree that we cannot make the world a pristine garden of Eden, and that we should be the best stewards that we can within reasonable means.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Vote for me and I'll point us in the right direction. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>
A lot of what you have said is reasonable. I think you've responded to things you're already unhappy about rather than the text that I wrote which I intentionally limited in scope. Just mellow out in your tone and maybe I could vote for you.
