Ford has a secret. Do you want to know what it is? Ford currently manufactures and distributes a car called the Ford ECOnetic that gets 65 mpg. It runs on diesel gasoline. Now you may be saying to yourself that this in not true because if it was you would know about it and would have heard of it already. Well here is your answer to that, Ford only distributes this car in Europe where they have less restrictions on diesel gasoline. Europe allows 'less clean diesel' to be used but America has put restrictions on this and requires a 'cleaner form of diesel' to be burned here. Ford just announced this a few weeks ago and I thought that you guys should know if you don't already know.
My main point about this is that Ford is struggling here in its home country and has in its possession technology and a car that could blow all other competitors out of the water and easily put the company in the number one spot of car manufacturers. And re-establish itself as the American car in American's eyes and thus win back their trust. But Ford can't release the car here because of the restrictions on diesel and they have also claimed that they won't release the car here in America because Americans are notoriously unreceptive and suspicious of diesel. Also, diesel gasoline apparently costs more here in America than it does in Europe because of the extra development processes we run it through.
So my question to you guys is, what do you think about this? Do you think that the policies should be changed? What are your propositions to solving this problem?
Personally, I believe that the policies should be changed so that this 'less clean diesel' can be burned and used here in America so companies like Ford can release these 'dream cars' like the ECOnetic. I accept this reasoning because a farm full of cows pollutes the air and gives off more CO2 than this car ever could. I also know that if this car was released it would not only help Ford; it would reinstall trust in American made products back in the hearts of the American people. And it would help alleviate the financial crisis because people would be out spending money again and it would drastically lower the price of diesel gasoline. Which is also good for the economy because diesel is less expensive to develop than the gasoline we currently use and would cut down on the costs of development.
I also believe that in order to beat this energy crisis America needs to take a hard look at our neighbors in Europe because the Europeans have been paying these gas prices and higher for years. They know how to deal with the problem and develop cars to get better gas mileage. Plus the Europeans pay gas per liter (roughly per quart to us here in America) and they usually pay upwards of $6.45 per liter. Yet they still have lower carbon emissions levels than us here in America. So obviously these 'less-clean fuels' are not having the effect that one might think they would have.
Ford's Secret...
By Town - Posted on October 12th, 2008
And I'm an advocate of getting hydrogen powered cars on the market. No greenhouse gas emissions from them at all!
And yes, a herd of cows will put more methane into the air than one of those cars will release in other greenhouse gases (not sure what exhaust is made of exactly), but if policies were changed and it really took hold here, who's to say the pollution from the cars won't outweigh that of all our cows?
Also, I advocate becoming vegetarian, or at least giving up beef, so we won't need so many cows and therefore, we will contribute less to global warming.
The statement above is made in all seriousness.
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.
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Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!!!
Even nutritionists will tell you that being a vegetarian is unhealthy because if you become one you are basically saying goodbye to all the amino acids your body needs to live grow and create new cells. And these amino acids naturally occur in meat. So I respect your decision to become vegetarian but it's just not for me especially when it is known and easily proven to be an unhealthy life style. After all if humans were meant to only eat plants and vegetables then we wouldn't have canine teeth or a combination of carnivorous and herbivore teeth.
On the contrary, I have been healthier in these past four years of being vegetarian than I ever was when I ate meat. Also, I still get my amino acids, which are found in my eggs, milk, and my beans and rice. My only issue is keeping my iron levels up, which stems from a hormonal problem more than dietary deficiencies.
People don't eat foods they don't like, right? It just so happens that I don't like meat.
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.
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Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!!!
The benefits of eco-vegetarianism may not be as beneficial as some others think. As strange as it may seem, since eco-vegetarianism is kind of an obscure topic, I've written a blog about this months ago.
Well, when I went back to link the blog here, I saw you had already commented on it. Way to get the leg up on me. I will say that you were right about soy beans replenishing nitrogen in the soil, so they aren't a destructive crop, like I erroneously claimed in my blog.
And I'm gonna call you out on a contradiction... in the comment on my blog, you said "becoming a vegetarian for the planet" is "something I find hard to believe." But that's what you just advocated in this comment. Care to clarify?
I will agree with you that Americans eat too much meat, as a result of our standard of living going up over time. Generations ago, meat was expensive and people couldn't afford to buy it. Now we eat it at every meal. I don't think absolute vegetarianism is necessary, but the occasional vegetarian or local meal is definitely good for your body and our planet. (In fact, I didn't have any meat for dinner today... though that was just an accident. Still, glad I didn't.)
Since I feel like I didn't contribute much to this discussion, I'll mention one other thing: hydrogen cars would produce a lot of carbon emissions, just not directly. The process for manufacturing molecular hydrogen releases a lot of carbon dioxide. We need clean ways of manufacturing hydrogen before fuel cell cars really become environmentally friendly.
Well, since writing that comment on your blog, I've since moved off to college and met vegetarians who actually made that lifestyle choice out of concern for the environment. My mind has been opened through experience.
Also, I mentioned the cattle thing in that comment, too. I'm also unfamiliar with the manufacturing process for molecular hydrogen. I tend to learn things like these from people like you here, who are very informative. ^_^
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.
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Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!!!