Wednesday, December 27, 2006
ADVANCES SHUNNED
Research-minded lefty Rex Ringschott states quite categorically:
A 40-year-old VW Beetle produces far fewer pollutants per kilometre than a modern Ferrari.
Rex—I’m guessing he isn’t a car guy, or a guy who pays much attention to legislative and technical change—bases his finding on this simple observation: a 1966 VW Beetle uses less fuel than a 2006 Ferrari. Less fuel used, less pollutants produced; why, it’s just that obvious!
We could bat Rex around for hours with complex talk of catalytic converters, fuel injection, combustion chamber improvements, variable valve timing, and other technological advances that make modern fast cars cleaner than slow old cars, but it’s easier to point out that in 1977 Volkswagen stopped selling the Beetle in America because it didn’t meet then-current US emissions standards.
That was nearly 30 years ago. Those standards have since become massively more strict, especially in California—where you can buy a Ferrari today. You think ’66 Beetles are clean, Rex? Try selling them as a new model in Los Angeles. Should be quite a market, considering how non-polluting they are.