I had to chuckle at Z's comments and their implication that 40 or 100 deaths per 100,000 is no big deal. I look forward to something from Gordon saying that more people die from smoking pot or aids or whatever.
Perhaps the folks who see a problem when the air and seas turn against us are wearing blinders. If we want to get the business uber alles folks on-board perhaps we should be parsing this information in terms of lost productivity. That's right...forget about the lost lives. Think about how much it would cost to re-train each person lost in such a manner...or to hire a new replacement while the victim is slowly dying. I would be curious to see how profit would be lost as a result of this trend.
Lost profits, slower productivity, fewer people buying things...that's how to get their attention. Human suffering? Not so much.
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
The 6,000 deaths due to short term exposure can be comapred to the 1,000 deaths caused by long term exposure to second hand smoke (or is it 800 deaths? Or is it 2000?). Given how much more deadly automobiles are just from pollution (let alone when they run people over), cars should be banned for health reasons. It also shows, as researchers in Japan where the medical establishment does not have such an anti-smoking bias, that the effects of SHS are easily outweighed by background pollution.
European car companies are already suggesting that cars gaining less than 35mpg be banned from manufacture there. I fully expect cars to be significantly, significantly cleaner within 10 years. Another 8 years of an administration friendly to the concerns of the environment and the market demand is already there to make some serious progress in environmental affairs. We're by no means out of the woods yet (at least there are still woods) but I think the markets really are aligned to cut emissions in the developed world. Southeast Asia is another matter.
It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.
Compare and contrast the number of people who have died from causes attributable to nuclear power.
Well, here in Ohio, we've got a shit-load of coal-burning electric plants. My small contribution so far has been to convert most of my lights to CFLs, 29 of them in total. It's a start, and my electric bill has gone down by ~$20/mo. as well.
One of these days, my big-assed Oldsmobile is going to need replacing, and I'm thinking along the lines of a Honda Fit. Four doors, seating for four adults, and fast enough. That's all I require. I really don't need the Cadillac Northstart engine any more (but it has been fun).
At any rate, I'm very conscious of the environment around me and doing my part to preserve it, one step at a time.
there's only one way to find out...
