From: Winsor Crosby <wincros@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
George ranted justificably:
>OK, rant over. My point? The effect of a couple hg batteries over 20
>years can not be compared to the gallon of MTBE-laden gas I burn every
>22 miles...
... it really bothers me to see a simple
mercury cell outlawed as some sort of symbolic action when there are
literally tons of metallic mercury lying at the bottom of waterways all
over North America, any where there has been a paper pulp plant...
Folks, it is not the mercury cell so much as it is the
"externalities" -- the manufacturing and disposal effects -- that
make a difference.
Just as mercury from the *manufacture* of mercury batteries no longer
is a problem, mercury from the *manufacture* of paper is no longer a
problem, as that process has also been banned. The existing mercury
load from past manufacturing of either paper or batteries is a
different issue entirely.
It's easy to fall into the trap of saying, "this legal thing
pollutes, so why should this other polluting thing be illegal?"
That's what Garrett Hardin called "the tragedy of the commons:" if a
resource is shared by all, maintaining it is no one person's
responsibility.
I'd encourage everyone who has an OM-1 to get the alkaline
conversion, and not be a battery-import-criminal.
I'd also encourage anyone who cares to make mileage an important
issue when buying a car. Most scientists who aren't paid by an
industry lobby agree that we are near the peak of petroleum
production, and that it will only get more expensive. That gas-hog
SUV you bought when gas was $0.99 a gallon won't be such a deal when
gas costs as much as it does in Europe today -- $3 to $4 a gallon.
: Jan Steinman <mailto:Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: Bytesmiths <http://www.bytesmiths.com>
: 19280 Rydman Court, West Linn, OR 97068-1331 USA
: +1 503 635 3229 (voice) +1 503 675 9012 (fax)
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