Michael, 1979 cars have catalytic converters. We have stringent smog certification on a yearly basis in California--you cannot register the car without clearance--so I am not worried about that.
Everything in life is a trade off in some way. I really like old cars, not new ones. The most modern car I ever had was from 1983, but most of them were from the sixties and seventies. I like them because they do not have computers, or plastic bumpers, or annoying voices telling me to buckle something.
Even though a thoroughly modern car might get marginally better gas mileage, by keeping an old car in really good condition I have saved it from the junkyard and caused thousands of pounds of metal and plastic and chemicals not to be produced, since I will not be buying a new car. So I think by recycling, sort of, I have still helped the environment.
I know you are joking, Michael, but I thought I would explain my rationale, anyway.
Incidentally, more and more farmers are becoming interested in organic farming. There is a higher rate of cancer deaths among farmers and their families because of the pesticides they use, and pesticides have not been proven to be safe. We are part of a vast experiment, since the fifties, one in which we all participate unwittingly. Pesticides run off into creeks and groundwater, polluting the environment widely, killing fish and insects and small animals of all sorts. Organic farmers know how to rotate crops and intersperse rows with other fruits and vegetables in combination so that pests are reduced naturally. With pesticides, the ground needs to lie fallow every seven years or so, but not with organic agriculture. American farming methods essentially rape the land. |
