The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Jackie's Audacity

9.25.06 @ 12:01AM

(Page 5 of 5)

As an engineer of the Air Resources Board with direct access to the electric vehicle program staff, as a Regional Chair in the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and as a technical engineer who reads scientific, technical, and historical books for fun and interest, I offer the following observations:

1. The movie cherry-picked its footage of the people interviewed.

2. The movie showed a lush summer landscape of ANWR, including caribou gently grazing among the flowers (as I recall) -- not the hell hole as described by Jonah Goldberg described by Jonah Goldberg.

3. The movie did not address battery limitations [cost (new), cost (replacement), reliability, disposal, necessary time to recharge, et al]. Instead, it suggests that Big Auto suppressed battery technology by purchasing controlling interest in a battery inventor's company.

4. The movie did not address current (2006) and future gasoline and diesel engine emission standards. It is safe to say that new vehicle smog-forming emissions are approaching De minimis status. The older gasoline, but particularly the older heavy-duty diesel trucks, emit 10 to 100 times the emissions of new vehicles.

Should the scientific and technical community produce documentaries? Yes. They are a terrific medium with lasting impact. How about: "Global Warming is Caused by the Moon!" The referenced paper describes a global warming theory first postulated in the early 20th century by Otto Petersson that actually makes sense to me (it passes my credibility test).

I have not yet seen, and do not expect to see, this particular theory published in most major media publications. But perhaps I could write a story (or a movie script) for The American Spectator.
-- Tom Scheffelin, P.E.

CITGO PRIZE
Re: Jay D. Homnick's Chavez Raving:

Raving or not, his criticisms about Bush were pretty on target. I assume he doesn't really think that George
is the devil -- he was making a point about how his country sees America's Government. Do you really blame them?
-- E. Feder
Long Beach, New York

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