The purpose of this column was to entertain and discuss serious matters, as they relate to the car hobby at least, with some humor added. The publisher had been gently advising me that controversial subject matter should be avoided. I think the way he put it was something like: “Write about car stuff or you’re fired.”
He was referring to making fun of the EPA- approved gas can in the last issue, and suggesting their intent was out of concern for global warming, (which is what happens in April), but it’s called climate change now, because most people have noticed that it’s not doing what they originally said it’s doing. See? One run-on sentence, and I’m already controversial.
Renewable Energy sounds great, and was originally well-intended. Tons of money has been spent on the effort, but after decades of development, all forms of alternative combined makes a very small contribution to energy needs of the world. The sun isn’t always shining, the wind doesn’t always blow, and it costs too much. It’s a really big planet, we are very small, and oil has been coming out of the ground since 1859. We don’t really know for sure how much or for how long, but forget about it – we’re addicted. The “experts” said that “peak oil” was reached in the 1970s, when I was a kid. The Jetsons were on TV and everything in the future was going to be powered by a nuclear reactor or Dilithium Crystals, and we would’nt need oil. Then, in 1979, Jane Fonda starred in “The China Syndrome” and nuclear was over. The Crystals were never discovered.
Good, bad, right or wrong, what we do know for sure is that OIL RUNS EVERTHING. I’m just sayin’- Everything is made from it. Plastic, paint, toothpaste, the car, the road, your food, the package it came in, the can you threw the package in, you name it. A cup of oil has more uses, and bang for the buck than all energy sources we know of. Second place isn’t even close. It is, for all practical purposes, indistinguishable from Magic. So is the world we built with it.
And we’re not going back now… I probably watch too much History Channel.
If there is one reason why the “Green” movement is of concern for car enthusiasts, it is in fact an anti-oil movement, and is based on one conclusion: We must stop burning Oil and Coal, and Act 1 is : The Internal Combustion Engine Must Go – all of them – if we are to survive. And they are serious– religious; militant, even. It’s not a theory anymore for them. You are never going to talk them out of it, no matter what studies are done. And it’s a much, much bigger scheme than the silly gas can vapor-proof spout. It’s the perfect excuse for a huge power-grab.
The mobility The Car affords is symbolic of the freedom Americans enjoy, and that has been true from the dawn of the automobile era. It seems easy to take for granted just how great it was– and still is– to get into your rod, fire it up, flip on the radio and the A/C and hammer up the road, wherever you want to go, man. As long as there’s a gas station where you’re going. (See facing page)
But, I fear, that kind of freedom may change if we don’t learn what people in positions of power want to do about our cars and the rationale behind it. We know from experience, like the defeated “Clunker Law” that they would really rather see your hot rod just go away. If those efforts were not challenged, you might not be able to drive it today. But they’re still working on it. They really do think they know better. Actually, if they had their way, you’d be on the subway looking into a video camera hanging from the ceiling. Hotrods are viewed much the same way as your guns- they don’t think it’s “safe” for you to have one. Doubt it could ever get that bad? Humans have always sought control over others while claiming to serve them. Another bad trait of human nature is being so emotionally invested, you’re convinced it’ll work when it don’t.
The Wind Turbine is Exhibit A of this kind of thinking, a Pollyanish idea whose failure the Smart People cannot accept and are throwing good money after bad at. What may have worked in Holland in 1790 is nowhere near what is required in terms of today’s energy needs, even without the cars. They are super-expensive to build and erect, and some have motors that turn them when the wind’s not blowing. Nobody wants it in their neighbourhood because they’re big– really big. And ugly. Like War of the Worlds. Then there’s that “Killing the Eagles” debacle, not very “Green” at all.
A recent news story featured a Swedish ‘windfarm’ that had experienced unusually freezing cold weather. Craig Kelly on “What’s up With That?” writes “The entire rationale for wind turbines was to stop global warming by reducing the amount of CO2 being returned to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. The cold had caused the rotor blades of the turbine to freeze, bringing the blades to a complete stop. To fix the “problem,” a helicopter was employed to spray hot water (which is heated in the frigid temperatures using a truck equipped with a 260 kilowatt oil burner) on the blades of the turbine to de-ice them. The aviation fuel, the diesel for the truck, and the oil burned to heat the water, could likely produce more electricity than an unfrozen wind turbine could produce in the same amount of time.”
And that’s not counting the CO2 released from the fuel used. Now that’s irony. The picture is a metaphor of the complete insanity of the climate change debate. Perhaps in the future, however it turns out, this photo may sum up an era of stupidity, when rational thought, logic and commonsense was abandoned and immense wealth and resources needlessly sacrificed, in the pursuit of power.
It’s up to us to get involved, support your local Classic Car Club, and help responsible organizations like SEMA and the CCCEF, so that DMV letter telling you can no longer drive your car never comes.
