Does anyone else find it paradoxical that at a time when our governments are paying lip service to the need to reduce greenhouse emissions there has been no attempt, that I am aware of, to regulate or curb the use of motorized recreational vehicles on our lands and bodies of water?

So while there is a supposed commitment to the principles of Kyoto there is hardly a lake in the country that is not used by hordes of jetskiers who in addition to polluting the atmosphere, and creating noise that is a great irritant to non-users also, because of the engine design of these machines, dump great quantities of uncombusted gasoline into the water.

If reducing emissions is critical to ensuring the viability of the planet for future generations what justification can there be for permitting such activities, to say nothing of automobile racing, snowmobiling, monster truck events and the like?

Of course, were Canadians other than the supine creatures that they are, they might have got as upset at the taking over of our wilderness areas by these machines as they did over more important issues such as paying a certain hockey commenator half a million as opposed to 800,000 of their money.

If we are to be serious about Kyoto, and to reach the targets we have set, surely we need to come to view the burning of carbon based fuels for frivolous purposes as socially unacceptable.

Most interested in comments.

All cultures have deeply held beliefs about what constitutes basic freedoms. North America is very definitely a vehicle culture, as evidenced by the many advertisements, interestingly enough, of vehicles against a backdrop of nature and with a beautiful companion. In other words, the marketing is very austute, 'buy this vehicle and it will take you back to the wilderness in the very thing that will destroy it in the long-run'.

Given this very entrenched culture, I believe we need massive technological change and an industrial culture that moves to believing that a 'decarbonized world' is indeed possible and critical to our survival.

I noticed an advertisement in the Globe and Mail this week for a Honda fuel-cell vehicle with zero emissions, only available in the United States.

Ann

[quote="Vincent Martin"]Does anyone else find it paradoxical that at a time when our governments are paying lip service to the need to reduce greenhouse emissions there has been no attempt, that I am aware of, to regulate or curb the use of motorized recreational vehicles on our lands and bodies of water?]

Well said!
What is being recreated when we recreate with such a destructive technology?
I find motorized vehicles used in recreation to be obscene especially when it occurs in natural settings.
But perhaps the most obscene are the auto races. At the same time that as a planet we are struggling to cut down on fossil fuel consumption millions of people are fascinated by racing dangerously in truly gas-guzzling machines just to say that they got to the finish line first.
Let them run the race on foot then call it sport.
Having witnessed several transformations of societies' values, I have faith that in this area also society will change. In the future people will see these activities for what they truly are: obscene wastage of valuable things: oxygen, quiet, and fossil fuels.

[quote="Ann Dale"]All cultures have deeply held beliefs about what constitutes basic freedoms. North America is very definitely a vehicle culture, as evidenced by the many advertisements, interestingly enough, of vehicles against a backdrop of nature and with a beautiful companion. In other words, the marketing is very austute, 'buy this vehicle and it will take you back to the wilderness in the very thing that will destroy it in the long-run'.

Given this very entrenched culture, I believe we need massive technological change and an industrial culture that moves to believing that a 'decarbonized world' is indeed possible and critical to our survival.

I noticed an advertisement in the Globe and Mail this week for a Honda fuel-cell vehicle with zero emissions, only available in the United States.

Ann

[quote="Vincent Martin"]Does anyone else find it paradoxical that at a time when our governments are paying lip service to the need to reduce greenhouse emissions there has been no attempt, that I am aware of, to regulate or curb the use of motorized recreational vehicles on our lands and bodies of water?][/quote]

Glen Said - 'But perhaps the most obscene are the auto races. At the same time that as a planet we are struggling to cut down on fossil fuel consumption millions of people are fascinated by racing dangerously in truly gas-guzzling machines just to say that they got to the finish line first.
Let them run the race on foot then call it sport.'

Something to consider with auto racing is the technology that comes out of it. Fuel injection which allows these cars to go faster, but also increases fuel economy for us average people, was refined in auto racing way before it was available to the general public. Likewise, the reduction in car weights throught the use of aluminum, plastics, and carbon fiber was used in auto racing and has spilled over to mass production vehicles. Improved combustion (more power - less emissions) and longer lasting parts (reduced waste) are all by products as well. There are also quite a number of safety benefits from improved seat belts to increases in the structural integrity of the car body.

Dave, you raise some very interesting points about progree. I believe that if we don't integrate our decision-making to consider equally ecological, social and economic imperatives simultaneously, we will continue to progress by taking one step forward and two steps back. Another example, computers are smaller due to the invention of the microchip(dematerialization), but it still takes 40,000 pounds of materials to make a laptop. Ann

Something to consider with auto racing is the technology that comes out of it. Fuel injection which allows these cars to go faster, but also increases fuel economy for us average people, was refined in auto racing way before it was available to the general public. Likewise, the reduction in car weights throught the use of aluminum, plastics, and carbon fiber was used in auto racing and has spilled over to mass production vehicles. Improved combustion (more power - less emissions) and longer lasting parts (reduced waste) are all by products as well. There are also quite a number of safety benefits from improved seat belts to increases in the structural integrity of the car body.[/quote]