TDIMeister
Phd of TDIClub Enthusiast, Moderator at Large
Guys, with the recent bad press about Diesel technology, I'm getting sick and tired to hear from organizations such as the Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, EPA, CARB and others perpetuating literal lies about Diesel emissions. The UCS page which I alluded to in another thread was the last straw for me.
I propose that we write an open letter contributed by a collaborated effort of members from this Forum, as well as external experts, not necessarily to trump the TDI specifically, but to inform the recipients of the letter of the current state-of-the-art in Diesel emissions control and debate various issues such as tailpipe HC/NOx emissions, health effects of Diesel particulate matter, refinery-to-tailpipe pollution and energy consumption, CO2 emissions, etc.
This is a big undertaking, guys, and we need serious people to spend time to do some serious research, both of which would add credibility to the letter. We will need people to volunteer to do research on many different aspects that go a little deeper than, "I am the owner of a VW TDI; it's the best car I've ever owned, and it gets over 50 MPG to boot!" or "We want Pumpe-Düse or V6 TDIs made available or we'll start a riot in the major cities of America and Canada.... oh, and we want low-sulphur fuel, too, and NOW!"
I for one would be happy to contribute, and looking at the professions of some of our members in another thread, we need YOU scientists and engineers! I envision this letter, when completed, would be sent to politicians in every jurisdiction in the US and Canada where we have members; the Sierra Club, UCS, CARB, EPA, DOT; forwarded to every automaker with a North American presence including VWoA; to the media; and placed as a public open letter to every visitor to Fred's TDI website. Perhaps we can get support in numbers with other online forums like the Cummins, Powerstroke forums and VWVortex.
So what do you think? May I propose we open something like this:
To whom it may concern:
We the undersigned are writing to you representing an advocacy and enthusiast group for Volkswagen TDI automobiles and technology, with a membership of almost 2400 people and growing. This letter also has the support and contibution from members of various other discussion forums numbering xxxxx. We have among our collective voice, members spanning the entire globe in all fields of expertise, including hi-tech professionals, scientists, engineers, academics, lawyers, and {insert your important-sounding title here}.
We are writing to express our dismay at the negligent misinformation and, in the extreme case, what we view as gross misrepresentation of facts surrounding the subject of the viability of Diesel technology for current and future transportation use as regards to emissions of smog-generating pollutants and carcinogenic by-products of Diesel exhaust. Through this letter we aim to debate some of views put forward by certain environmental and industry lobby groups -- which we conclude to be inaccurate through our own research and through the multitude of research done by other experts in numerous disciplines -- and perpetuated by the media. This letter also aims to furnish information compiled by its authors about the abovementioned subject in an objective manner based on sound fact.
[This message has been edited by tdimeister (edited July 27, 2000).]
I propose that we write an open letter contributed by a collaborated effort of members from this Forum, as well as external experts, not necessarily to trump the TDI specifically, but to inform the recipients of the letter of the current state-of-the-art in Diesel emissions control and debate various issues such as tailpipe HC/NOx emissions, health effects of Diesel particulate matter, refinery-to-tailpipe pollution and energy consumption, CO2 emissions, etc.
This is a big undertaking, guys, and we need serious people to spend time to do some serious research, both of which would add credibility to the letter. We will need people to volunteer to do research on many different aspects that go a little deeper than, "I am the owner of a VW TDI; it's the best car I've ever owned, and it gets over 50 MPG to boot!" or "We want Pumpe-Düse or V6 TDIs made available or we'll start a riot in the major cities of America and Canada.... oh, and we want low-sulphur fuel, too, and NOW!"
I for one would be happy to contribute, and looking at the professions of some of our members in another thread, we need YOU scientists and engineers! I envision this letter, when completed, would be sent to politicians in every jurisdiction in the US and Canada where we have members; the Sierra Club, UCS, CARB, EPA, DOT; forwarded to every automaker with a North American presence including VWoA; to the media; and placed as a public open letter to every visitor to Fred's TDI website. Perhaps we can get support in numbers with other online forums like the Cummins, Powerstroke forums and VWVortex.
So what do you think? May I propose we open something like this:
To whom it may concern:
We the undersigned are writing to you representing an advocacy and enthusiast group for Volkswagen TDI automobiles and technology, with a membership of almost 2400 people and growing. This letter also has the support and contibution from members of various other discussion forums numbering xxxxx. We have among our collective voice, members spanning the entire globe in all fields of expertise, including hi-tech professionals, scientists, engineers, academics, lawyers, and {insert your important-sounding title here}.
We are writing to express our dismay at the negligent misinformation and, in the extreme case, what we view as gross misrepresentation of facts surrounding the subject of the viability of Diesel technology for current and future transportation use as regards to emissions of smog-generating pollutants and carcinogenic by-products of Diesel exhaust. Through this letter we aim to debate some of views put forward by certain environmental and industry lobby groups -- which we conclude to be inaccurate through our own research and through the multitude of research done by other experts in numerous disciplines -- and perpetuated by the media. This letter also aims to furnish information compiled by its authors about the abovementioned subject in an objective manner based on sound fact.
[This message has been edited by tdimeister (edited July 27, 2000).]
