preposterous
In Toronto -- a city that is often choked by smog -- there are motorized billboards trolling the streets. I saw one tonight on the way home from work. For a moment, I had to breathe its exhaust. In a world with limited petroleum resources -- and, arguably, a world whose survival is threatened by the continued burning of said resources -- using them to power a moving advertisement is the height of arrogance and environmental short-sightedness.
In fairness, the company that runs the billboard I saw tonight claims that some of its fleet is powered by biodiesel. They point out that biodiesel can be made from soybean oil, canola oil, or recycled cooking oil. What they don't mention is that biodiesel often contains regular diesel in a blended format. And I don't care if the truck I was behind tonight was burning 100% biodiesel or 20% biodiesel / 80% diesel... it still stank, it still needs petrochemicals for its lubrication/construction/distribution, and it still takes up valuable space on downtown streets. Until you can power a truck with rainbows and pixie dust, there will always be an environmental impact.
Save the biodiesel for public transportation.
In fairness, the company that runs the billboard I saw tonight claims that some of its fleet is powered by biodiesel. They point out that biodiesel can be made from soybean oil, canola oil, or recycled cooking oil. What they don't mention is that biodiesel often contains regular diesel in a blended format. And I don't care if the truck I was behind tonight was burning 100% biodiesel or 20% biodiesel / 80% diesel... it still stank, it still needs petrochemicals for its lubrication/construction/distribution, and it still takes up valuable space on downtown streets. Until you can power a truck with rainbows and pixie dust, there will always be an environmental impact.
Save the biodiesel for public transportation.
Comments
But I get much more upset when I see those one man vacuum carts hogging up the sidewalk picking up scraps of paper...
THAT WE CAN GET THE HOMELESS TO DO
...at an incredibly cheap rate of pay. Say... like for food.
I've never seen those. We have the ones with the Kudzu growing through them.
Nölff: I just had to Google kudzu
Jack: I was expecting someone to make this comment. Kudzus oops I mean kudos to you!
Jason, Mitz: did you hear about the pasta boycott in Italy? A wire story today points out one of the reasons wheat is getting so expensive: "The demand for wheat is the result of several trends, chiefly an increasing demand for biofuels, which can be made from wheat..."
Torn: the fuel itself, or the exhaust?
Salem: and rapeseed oops I mean canola