Cutting CO2 or a Sneak Attack on Porsche, Ferrari?
 

Anyone see this news story?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...Gw8&refer=home

Excerpt:
If one of the more extreme responses to global warming comes true, driving a sports car anywhere but on a racetrack might be relegated to history's dustbin.

Fast, powerful cars within a few years may be outlawed in Europe, an idea that has been raised ostensibly because Ferraris and Porsches produce too much carbon dioxide. For those who abhor sports cars as vulgar symbols of affluence (along with vacation homes, furs and fancy jewelry), such a ban could be a two-fer: Saving the planet while cutting economic inequality.

Who are these people anyway who decide on behalf of everyone what car is proper to drive? In the U.S. they're members of Congress, which is considering fuel-efficiency standards that will affect vehicle size. In Europe, it's the ministers and parliamentarians of the European Union, which wants to limit how much CO2 cars can emit as a proxy for a fuel- consumption standard.

Chris Davies, a British member of the European Parliament, is proposing one of the most-extreme measures -- a prohibition on any car that goes faster than 162 kilometers (101 miles) an hour, a speed that everything from the humble Honda Civic on up can exceed. He ridiculed fast cars as ``boys' toys.''

The proposed ban would take effect in 2013. Davies told the Guardian newspaper that ``cars designed to go at stupid speeds have to be built to withstand the effects of a crash at those speeds. They are heavier than necessary, less fuel-efficient and produce too many emissions.''

His last point is telling, even though there are many reasons why cars are heavier, including safety measures such as air bags and steel-reinforced crumple zones.

I see his point, but I love my toys! :soapbox: Anyone have anything to add?

Thanks,
-B ;)

Ya, I have something to add, THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN A MILLION YEARS! Why, because the people who have "allot of money" as I call it (Not me unforetunetely :-( will never allow this nonsense to come to life, Never. Ok, maybe in Europe, but not in America, that will be the day, you walk into a Porsche dealership, and have them say, I’m sorry sir, but you can not buy this car, it goes way over the 101+ limit rule.......... That would be too funny!!!!!!!!!! And yes, there MY boy toys, and thats why I work my ass off in god forsaken countries like this!

I'm buying all the cars that I can afford now before driving on the streets is not fun at all anymore. I'm all for safety and keeping the hard core driving to the track; but I still enjoy doing an early morining canyon run at 7 or 8/10th and some high speed runs when conditions permit. I believe it is only a matter of time when we are required to have a chip in our cars and are tracked by GPS by the government; it is already being done by car rental agencies and some insurance companies have experimented with it. Once they do this by catching you speeding anywhere anytime and automatically sending you a ticket in the mail, and if I can't find a counter measure, then my daily fun will be gone.

So I must buy all the cars that I can now and enjoy them as much as possible.

Um, yeah...over 2 million pick-ups are sold in this country annually, driven 10-15k miles per year, vs about 20,000 Porsche and Ferrari sports cars, driven 5-10k miles per year. Makes a lot of sense to focus on sports cars. :rolleyes:

Well, I must say that the article in question is one of the most ignorant, assinine pieces I have read in a long time. Are people out there really that obtuse? Makes a ton of sense, doesn't it?? Lets focus on the 3000 Ferrari's produced per year and the 20,000 Porsches (both numbers are estimates, I don't know), and forget about the millions of SUV's and trucks that the soccer Mom's really need, haha. Brilliant!

If you ask me, that Chris Davies asshole didn't get the allocation for the GT3 he wanted, so, now he has an axe to grind...

Yeah... and my 997S is more fuel efficient than 99.9% of the SUVs sold in all the United States.

Just put a price on C02 emissions (car tax a function of it) as in the UK, and watch the Detroit big three go under for good... :bigbye:

And there's the rub.

AND i think the amount of black smoke polution from one city bus = 500 porsches' emission. :icon501:

Actually, most of the city buses around here run on CNG now. Although they are almost always empty. Funny thing is, because the MTA is losing money, they are planning to raise the fares.

Or how about all the CO2 emissions and harm to the environment caused by needless Wars? But, we won't talk about that as the Government would prefer you do with less and have you keep your eyes on the Global Warming ball :surr:

Wow, last time I heard that word the guy got 2 months in the hole!

This is why I dont understand why people vote for liberals. Yes they will give you welfare but it puts you under their spell- while one by one your rights are taken away. Little by little your wealth will be spread amongst others. One day we will wake up with our independence and freedoms will be gone. This is a prime example. They know SO much more than you. They are SO much smarter than you. They will take care of you and tell you how to live. Its coming.

IT is called hillary

:soapbox:

The theory that CO2 causes global warming is just that - a theory, but it's being thrown around as if it's fact. We've had global warming since the last ice age. A control group (i.e. an identical planet with life forms and unchanging C02 values) would do the trick. Oxygen does a pretty good job as an insulator in our atmosphere too, but we certainly can't make O2 the enemy... or can we?

I would like to find out the real answer once and for all. I watched that Gore movie and thought, "I live in south Florida, I'd better buy real estate in the mountains!". Now I hear Gore ownes a company that cleans up CO2! Then I hear that the effects of CO2 have a maximum density, meaning that once we achieve a certain level, any additional CO2 will have no more effect. Then I read that a Hummer, over its lifespan will have less impact on our environment than a Prius. Is there a website where I can find an unbiased, science driven fact?

mitch, here is a start

http://mysite.verizon.net/mhieb/WVFossils/ice_ages.html