You're not a treehugger. Not even close.




gatt wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...

Duh. Of course we oppose this study. If the public finds out that we
still use leaded fuel, with 2 grams of lead per gallon, which is 4
times the amount that used to be in car fuel, then we are in big trouble.
Especially in CA.

Well, look at the bright side. If all the tree-huggers really DO get
worked up about all that lead, MAYBE they'll let you burn ethanol-free
unleaded mogas again in Kalifornia?


I would discourage you from sounding like a professional talk radio zealout
ranting against "the treehuggers" or what they might do if they find out.

I'm a "treehugger." I once flew a C-152 with a photographer over an illegal
clearcut of an old-growth forest along the Oregon coast that was subsidized
by unknowing taxpayers but shut down as soon as the government found out (of
course, 75% had already been cut thanks to friends in Bill F'ckhead
Clinton's Forest Service)

The photos provided evidence of a crime against the public trust. When they
were on the web, by the way, I was getting hits from federally-leased IP
ranges daily. Big brother was watching.

Without getting too political, there's a tendency for people to think that
environmentalists are out to sink GA even though as a pilot/eco-geek I can
stand toe-to-toe with an educated environmentalist and make plenty of good
arguments for aviation and its fuel requirements.

Near as I can tell, the real enemies of General Aviation are

1) Draconian FAA regulations, which I don't feel I need to explain in this
forum

2) Land developers; (longtime enemies of the treehugger) lobbying to close
down airports because the land is worth more money or because their new
residents won't like the noise.

3) The oil industry; windfall profits off of Katrina, taxpayers are
rebuilding the region that supplies 30% to half of our domestic crude
oil....$750,000,000 in taxpayers dollars to patch up the levees alone, which
represents less than one tenth of Exxon's profits in the last quarter.
They want tax breaks. THEY BUILT THE CANALS that introduced salt water to
the barrier marshland along the Mississippi Delta that helped the storm
surges that wiped out places like Chalmette. By the way, 20% of the
population of New Orleans works in the energy industries.)

4) Social ignorance, largely due to media/public infatuation every time a
plane gets bent, whether somebody is hurt or not.

Feel free to challenge any point. I'd love to test my ideas here.
-c