The catalytic converter was first widely used on automobiles sold in the US starting in 1975. This was done in order to meet new, more stringent emissions regulations issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The exhaust fumes of the car are passed through the converter where a chemical reaction takes place. These early converters worked to rearrange the atoms of the carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (CH) in the exhaust into harmless carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O). Newer catalytic converters also split the nitrous oxide (NO) into nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2).
At the time, smog was a big concern, and the smoky part was the hydrocarbons left over after burning gasoline or diesel fuel. Also, the poisonous carbon monoxide gas was widely discussed as a dangerous emission. I recall near hysteria over CO, much like the global warming and greenhouse gas news reports of today. Today, the only greenhouse gas I hear about is carbon dioxide. Of course, water vapor is also considered a greenhouse gas by the EPA.
OK, so we have catalytic converters on our cars because of EPA mandates. Now the EPA has declared the CO2 and H2O that are emitted from that catalytic converter evil. We are destroying the earth as ordered by the EPA. Maybe we should eliminate the components of the converter that change the CO and CH into CO2 and H2O. Apparently the CO and CH weren't as bad as the CO2 and H2O. Are you left feeling like you went to sleep in 1975 and woke up today in the middle of a MessAPolitico?
You know, I think we should keep the catalytic converters. Then, the extra water vapor will produce rain that facilitates plant growth. Use the extra rain and CO2 to feed trees. That's right. Just plant trees.
Last year, the EPA spent just under $8.5 billion. The US Forest Service spent over $5.5 billion last year. Maybe the EPA and the US Forest Service should get together and spend some of this $14 billion planting trees. How about using the government grants to pay college professors and other scientists to do something useful toward reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. Why do we spend so much money, time and effort trying to prove that global warming is going to cause catastrophe and kill the planet? Instead, we could do studies to determine what trees produce the most O2 and remove the most CO2 over their lifetime. Which trees are the most productive in different climates, with different soils, and at different altitudes? Lets do something positive for a change.
Use the forest service to grow the seedlings and plant them all over the country. Plant them along the highways, in national parks, around government buildings, etc. Put some people to work doing the tree research, planting seeds, cultivating seedlings, and transplanting the trees to their final location. Use government employees or convicts or maybe even the private sector. Who knows, maybe a private company can be more efficient and produce more trees per billion dollars than a government agency.
There is still debate as to whether global warming is or is not a real, man-made problem (contrary to what Al Gore would tell you). Either way, I love trees. They produce shade, break the wind in flat areas, provide homes for a lot of little birds and other critters, reduce noise along highways, and look just beautiful. Wouldn't it be great if the solution to having too much carbon dioxide didn't have to move manufacturing out of the country? I think that most people would like to go back to $1.50/gallon gasoline. I'm not looking forward to expensive electricity produced by wind or solar alternatives to coal either.
Come on guys, just plant some trees. Plant a billion trees every year for 10 years. Get other countries around the globe to follow suit. Give people tax breaks for planting a tree every year in their yard. (I don't really like using the tax code to encourage or discourage some behavior that a bureaucrat deems is or isn't in my best interest.) Give people tax breaks for donating trees to city or state parks.
There has to be a better way to fix this MessAPolitico. Did I mention that we should plant some trees?
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