wintersun wrote:
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Of course I would much rather have a truck that belched black smoke and put out 100 times as much pollution out the tailpipe. If I benefit and injure 100 other people in the process why should I care as a red blooded American capitalist. Why should I care if others spend more than $12 billion a year on hospitalization from problems caused by air pollution, not my problem is it?
In Europe the gas direct injection engines produce more particle emissions than even diesel engines though the cost of a filter would be only about $50 per vehicle and would not affect fuel economy. Air pollution in the EU contributes to 406,000 deaths each year, more than 100 million lost days of work, and an economic impact of at least $400 billion.
Pollution benefits a few at the expense of the many and net net the lost is magnitudes greater than the gain for the selfish few. Only a child or a sociopath puts pollution ahead of people.
It's urban folk who get the direct benefits of vehicle pollution control, and have seen how bad it can be without.
I was in some European cities a couple of decades ago and would never have choosen to live there because of the air. Belching diesel trucks and buses were everywhere. I believe they've cleaned up considerably since then.
Rural folk get the benefit of "dilution is the solution to pollution" and so don't have the same experience and perspective.
