Hate to burst everyone's bubble here, but R-12 was not banned because it
depletes the ozone. There has never been any conclusive evidence that it
does so. In fact, simple studies have actually shown that r-12 is LESS
destructive than the "approved" R-134a. The SINGLE reason it was outlawed
is because DuPont's patents were less than 2 years from expiration, and
the company and the US economy stood to lose a lot of money when the
rights to produce Freon became public domain. Therefore, a faulty study
needed to be cooked up to declare it "unsafe" so that a new coolant (with
a new 30+ year patent cycle) could be sold. Nevermind the fact that
R-134a costs significantly more than R-12 did, and doesn't work half as
well (the primary reason why my 99 dakota's air isn't anywhere near as
cold as the air in my father's 88 Camry). Finally, just to make sure
that every environmentalist is upset by this post <sic>, I'll let the
last cat out of the bag. There is no "ozone depletion" taking place. The
measured levels of upper-atmosphere ozone have been steadily increasing
since the early 70's. CFC's (the most often maligned destroyer of ozone,
which it is fully capable of doing--in a laboratory) are approximately
20-400x as heavy as the gaseous molecules that make up our atmosphere, and
therefore could not possibly reach the upper atmosphere in great enough
quantities to make any appreciable impact. About the only thing one could
blame on them is destroying ground-level ozone, and preventing us from
being poisoned by it (ozone is toxic when inhaled by animals, including
us). Finally, let's assume for a moment that ALL of the CFC's and other
ozone-unfriendly chemicals that have ever been released have ended up in
the ozone layer and destroyed some O3. Even assuming that (which is
impossible), man, in his entire history, has not released nearly as much
of these depletors as in 1 good-sized volcano eruption, of which there are
dozens (if not hundreds) every year.
Not trying to rag on everybody, but one of my big pet peeves is radical
environmentalism. Don't get me wrong, I recycle, and wouldn't dump waste
or harmful chemicals anywhere. I don't mind being responsible and taking
care of what we have. What irks me is when lies are manufactured by
corporations, the government, or "special interest groups" (greenpeace is
a big offender here, as is the EPA) decide that a certain thing is now
dangerous and must be stopped, for no reason other than political or
monetary gain.
Off the soapbox. Flames and comments welcome. :-)
David Gloff
Computer Technician
Valcom Professional Computer Center; Kemper/Scudder/Zurich Funds
aolim: dgloff
Loaded Intense Blue '99 Dakota Sport CC 318 5-speed 3.92SG
"This is a litigation-free zone. Prosecutors will be Violated."
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