tikal
Veteran Member
Great points AndyBees.@ El Dobro thanks for sharing. I'll watch it later.
I want to share these two stories about pollution (Air & Water).
In late spring, 1969, at the end of my first year of college, I went to Cincinnati, Ohio for summer work. Looking from the Ky side north on I-75, the city was hardly visible due to smog. It was like that all summer (not and smoggy). As I drove through Cincinnati on I-75, I could smell the stock yards, slaughter houses, Formica, Nu-Maid Margarine, Proctor & Gamble, etc. The public transient system buses were all diesel powered with the exhaust at street level. Hudepohl Beer signs were on their sides. (Yeah, I watched the Reds play a few games.)
Really, air pollution was unreal during those days. I suspect in 1969, it was like that across North America in most cities. Then, there were laws passed and regulations put in place in the very early 1970s. As the years rolled by, air pollution subsided tremendously.
Those that never experienced it, have no clue.
(No, I never went to Woodstock, but two gals did invite me to take them...LOL)
The cover page of a monthly edition of the National Geographic in 1968 was a photo of an aerial view of the Mississippi River looking north at St. Louis. The raw untreated sewer discharge plume in the middle of the river was not questionable. National Geographic did an extensive story about pollution and water pollution in particular in that edition.
Anyway, the point is, we’ve come a very long way with cleaning up the air and water. The difference then and now is almost impossible to imagine.
Yes, VW did make a big mistake. I really never kept up with the scandal. And, it is my understanding that some of the other auto makers did similar things.
I think we have come long ways to lower urban street pollution and that is where the EVs can have a short term beneficial potential ("low hanging fruit") to really help in stop-and-go city traffic contamination. Think of a school bus going electric and other similar scenarios such as the ones described in post # 1,238 by d24tdi
For the highway we are not there yet in my view with EVs. Yes some people have EVs and they regularly do for mid to long distance trips, as in four hours or more driving per day. Kudos to them, but for the average American driver the most convenient way to do highway driving is with an ICE vehicle nowadays.