The funny thing is that I was put into that group - it was me, a
RoHS-skeptic, versus a whole room of European, UC Davis and UC Berkeley
environmentalists expounding the virtues of life-cycle analysis and the
banning of every heavy metal on the periodic table. I think someone played
a cruel joke on me.
During my presentation, which was first (I had no idea I was surrounded!) I
played a clip from Thomas L. Friedman's Discovery-Times documentary entitled
"Does Europe Hate Us?" (I have his permission to play it for non-profit
events and government meetings) In that segment, Tom interviews a Frenchman
from Greenpeace about all the new environmental laws. At one point, Tom
says that he feels he needs a chest X-Ray after sitting in French
restaurants where people are smoking. The Frenchman answers that there is a
law against smoking in restaurants in France (note: law just updated
recently), but the French aren't very disciplined. It usually brings a good
laugh, but this was a tough crowd.
I didn't get many questions from my presentation, which is highly unusual -
I usually have to stay afterwards and have a question and answer period.
Anyway, I soon found out that everyone else in the room was talking about
banning copper and how there are substitutes for hexavalent chromium
conversion coatings. When the guy brought up his proposed ban on copper, I
just couldn't take it anymore. I told him that EVERYTHING is chemical in
nature and that EVERYTHING is hazardous given certain conditions and
concentrations. I told them that living is a risk - people die every day
from all kinds of things - and the goal was to mitigate the risks, not put
everyone in a plastic bubble. At that, the moderator chuckled (I wasn't
laughing) and ended the session.
The thing I took away from that conference was that the so-called
environmentalists have a dogmatic belief in what the EU and California (EU
USA) are doing, and they don't have a lick of sense between them. By the
way, the dihydrogen oxide or dihydrogen monoxide spoof wouldn't have gone
over very well, and I'm sure that they had heard that one before. I was
trying to engage those people, but I could tell they were just stuck in
their world dreaming of organically grown vegetables and absolutely pure
water with a concentration of less than four parts per trillion arsenic
(that's another story from California). That's why I absolutely hate the
idea of REACH - we're going to get shovelfuls of the same crap once the
Euros get that rolling.
I thought of asking them if they had ever heard anyone stand up and state "I
am against human health and the environment." - The Euros were so critical
of GW when he said "you're either with us, or against us" which was really
stupid, but they are essentially saying the same thing with their
environmental legislation - They're right, and if you oppose them, you're
against human health and the environment.
By the way: does anyone know when the Oko Institute and TAC will be done
deciding on the last batch of exemption requests?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Davy, Gordon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: [LF] Concern over lead free munitions - NTC
Timothy,
So someone was willing to stand up in a meeting of like-minded souls and
propose that copper be banned? What kind of reception did they give his
proposal? Would they have listened to you if you had pointed out the
simplemindedness of relying solely on an MSDS to identify substances
that should be banned?
If you get a chance with this group, try proposing a ban on dihydrogen
oxide. Maybe that will distract them for a while.
Gordon Davy
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