Los Angeles Times on wineries causing smog
Posted by Pierre Igot in: SocietyAugust 22nd, 2005 • 9:51 am
Only in America, they say…
The Los Angeles Times has an article on the impact of San Joaquin Valley vintners on smog levels in the region.
While I do not doubt that wineries do generate a fair amount of smog-forming gas, this is a bit rich, coming from the country of unbridled consumerism, with its hugely polluting S.U.V.s and trucks, enormous oil-dependency, etc.
Instead of actually dealing with the problem by trying to address the major factors contributing to air pollution and smog, we have regulators trying to blame wine makers… Admittedly, the Los Angeles Times makes this sound like it’s a localized problem in this particular valley.
But I still find it rather symbolic of a larger problem in the U.S. It’s hard not to think that, if a real effort was made to curb the pollution caused by cars and trucks, this particular problem with wineries would not really be a big problem.
While it is true that, in order to tackle pollution issues, you have to start somewhere, surely even Americans realize that, in the big scheme of things, curbing the emissions of California’s wineries will not do much to fight global warming!
What’s next? Catalytic converters for cows?