One topic that seems to ahve been left out of this discussion (or
at least glossed over a bit) is that of the *extra pollution*
caused by the manufacture of new cars. I haven't seen any
comparison of the number of years that a '70's vintage car
would have to run to pump into the air and water an amount
of pollution equal to that amount that would be produced by
manufacturing a new car. There are a variety of sources of
pollution involved in vehicle manufacture, not just vehicle
operation. These include, but are not limited to, the car
factory itself, the steel mills, the plastics plants and the
electric plants that supply all the above. Its not clear
to me, at least, that replacing all the older, dirtier cars
with newer and cleaner ones will, in fact, reduce the overall
pollution level. It might increase the amount of pollutants
in the environment instead.
John
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