Seine, Rhine, and Meuse. In the Rhine Freons, chloroform, and a score of other solvents were regularly found as micropollutants. The author then voluntarily restricted his household use of aerosols, which means killing flies by hand and washing his armpits, but he goes on having his garments dry-cleaned in trichloroethylene. The only way to obtain clean water is to forego the convenience afforded by these "Iuxury" chemicals. John J. Rook, Chief Chemist Rotterdam Waterworks The Netherlands
Car emission controls Dear Sir: Dr. Lodge is perfectly right that certain cities like Denver, and Los Angeles also, have unique geographic problems. There is no easy answer to how far the rest of the U.S. must go toward these extreme cases. The point on a steady-state economy was missed. In numerous speeches the last 3 years I have,
pointed out that pursuit of a continually increasing GNP must end and that there may be a better enjoyment of life in a less materialistic-but still democratic-society. Every citizen for clean air at any cost to car manufacturers who insist on producing outmoded behemoths are going to have to give up something to reach this goal. We are torn between the facts that something must be done immediately to cut petroleum consumption and that 1 out of 6 Americans owes his livelihood to the automobile. I am heartily in accord with Shell Oil opinion 2 years back that we need a 1200 Ib car in town and 2500 Ibs on the road. A whopping weight and horsepower tax should have been invoked after full and open debate in the Congress. This does not alter my views whatsoever on the unilateral nature of decision-making in setting emission standards and failure to give the public any choice of options. The National Petroleum Council report "Emergency Preparedness for Interruption of Petroleum Imports into the United States," November
15, 1973, pointed out expected decreases in employment with decrease in oil supplies. It is absurd to believe that the loss of a million barrels a day would not result in unemployment. Even in the atmosphere of Washington today where no political leader wants to face up to the facts of the energy situation, the present draft of Project Independence estimates last winter's oil embargo put 500,000 people out of work. I repeat that logic does not always prevail against public reaction on the Washington scene. The seat-belt warning signal, which probably saved thousands of lives, went down quietly and conclusively when it moved too rapidly to an inconvenient double-belt interlock system. When Joseph Alsop (Washington Post, November 6, 1974) writes openly of war with petroleum as one of its root causes you had better believe we are facing more than just inconvenience if we don't make the best use of our resources. Earl T. Hayes
Silver Spring, Md. 20901
E N V I R O N M E N T A L EQUIPMENT
711-1~1
151 Bear Hill Road Waitharn. Mass 02154 Tel: (617) 890-3710
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