One should not be surprised to find that the most strident supporters of
lead-free are those whose livelihoods are dependant on RoHS to one degree  or
another. These are the ones with a stake in the "solutions".

What better way to amass lucre than to have it come by way  of legislated
mandates?  This is like free money. Unfortunately,  it is also as old as the body
politic itself. (How else can lobbyists  afford their lavish lifestyles?...
;-)

To be honest, I have no problem with someone choosing to use lead-free
solders for any reason they wish to employ (including but not limited to:  greater
expense, potentially lower reliability, etc.... ;-)  It simply  should not be
mandated by legislation especially when there is no scientific  facts to
support assertions that have no basis in fact

On the matter of energy use, some are now condescendingly suggesting that
very little energy will be saved by the return to traditional solders. In
contrast, to them many other folks on the planet believe  that every little bit
counts. "Waste not, Want not" is a time honored  proverb to which many of us have
long held and Ghandi advised us to  "Live simply so that others can simply
live". The message from some RoHS  supporters seems to be "Waste is OK"... so
long as it fattens the  "right" wallets. Please excuse the cynical lapse.

Tin use will only go up by a small percentage, some of those with vested
interest in lead-free solutions say. But the truth is that it will  mostly likely
be ongoing and increasing with the industry. More fundamentally  one can ask:
Why must it go up at all if there in no benefit? (beyond  the benefit of
increased profits enjoyed by the metals and mining  industries that is.. Oops,
there goes my cynicism again... ;-) Also  where, exactly, will the new tin be
found and  mined? Sadly it appears, according to those who are better positioned
than I to know, it will be in rain forests.

Curiously a new reason for maintaining RoHS has just been making the  rounds.
(New to me at least) The new argument goes like this: "RoHS makes
electronics safer to recycle". This appears to be a  revisionist argument. Perhaps is
was concocted by some RoHS  supporters to buttress their position and try and
legitimize the  lead-free effort in the face of countervailing scientific facts
which negate nearly all of the other earlier cited reasons  for lead-free.
(e.g., risk of health problems, risk of leaching,  ...improved reliability...
No, wait a moment, that last item was never given as  a reason... ;-)

Back to the topic. The reality is that there has never been a problem  with
recycling electronics. The problem has always been in the management of the
recycling process which, to be honest, has had problems in the past .  (e.g.,
Shipping containers of electronic waste to those not set up to process it
properly)

However when managed properly success can be achieved. HP and other
responsible OEMs have apparently been very successful. Others can be  too. But when it
comes to recycling, I find it a bit hard to  swallow that ternary or
quaternary alloys will be easier and cheaper to  recycle than a binary alloy.

On the bright side, comments from highly dedicated and  responsible
scientists and engineers from around the world, (along  many non-scientists who are not
especially prone to wearing rose [or  is it green?] tinted glasses when it
comes to the facts), have been  overwhelmingly supportive of the idea of
repealing the lead solder provisions of  RoHS. .

Some supporters of RoHS would like the electronics industry to give up hope
of reconsideration. But there is hope and the reality is that some times
seemingly insurmountable odds can be overcome but it takes will and persistence.
Recall the Spartans at Battle of Thermopylae  (up  until they were betrayed,
that is ...  :-(

The refutation of lead-free has mostly to do with  truth supplied by
science... that basic truth, stated simply  and stated factually.

As has noted before, one of the beauties of the truth is that no  matter how
deeply one tries to bury it,  it has a way of clawing its  way back into the
light where it can be viewed and judged by all.

It is never too late to make matters right.

Best regards and wishes to all,
Joe

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leadfee Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Leadfree
To temporarily stop/(start) delivery of Leadree for vacation breaks send: SET Leadfree NOMAIL/(MAIL)
Search previous postings at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------