University of Virginia Library

Colloquium

Life's Erosion

By BARRY FELDMAN

Americans have become
increasingly aware over the
past decade of the continuing
pollution of our air, land and
water resources. The
indigence of the American
people over lakes and rivers not
fit for swimming or fishing,
over air not fit to breath, and
over land rapidly becoming an
unsightly garbage dump, has
forced more government action
in the past 10 years than in all
previous history. But the
surface has just been scratched.

The vast majority of the
work remains to be done,
including a concerted effort to
search for environmentally
sound alternatives to a
presently polluting technology.

Alternatives

The automobile is, today,
the source of 60 per cent of
the nation's air pollution (more
than 85 per cent in some
cities). Yet, the automobile
industry refuses to look to
alternatives, deciding instead to
meet the 1975 emission
standards by installing
expensive catalytic converter
systems, which have been
shown to decrease in
effectiveness after moderate
use, and which require
excessive maintenance.

The federal government is
not expediting matters, either.
With the President's
impoundment of over half of
the $11 billion scheduled for
environmental programs this
year, research into
transportation alternatives has
been effectively curtailed.

There exist several viable
alternatives to the internal
combustion engine (ICE) at
this time. The only one
presently in commercial use is
the Wankel Rotary Engine
Mazda, having limited success
at present. The rotary engine is
smoother, simpler, faster,
smaller, and more efficient,
than the ICE. It also burns
clean enough to pass the 1975
emission standards, which
Detroit will have trouble
passing even with the catalytic
converter.

The only prohibition right
now is the price, which would
definitely not be a problem
were GM, Ford, and Chrysler
to get into the act. Research is
also being conducted on a new
version of the steam engine
(Rankine engine), a battery car
and an electric automobile.

Laws Of Matter

The problem of waste
treatment and disposal in this
nation is one of steady
increase, as a direct result of
population increase. The use of
the word 'consumerism' to
describe our present society
could not be any farther from
the truth. There is no such
thing as a consumer. We are
users, who discard the same
mass we begin with.

This fundamental law of
matter seems to elude many
people. They neither consider
nor care where the garbage
goes after they put it out, or
what happens after they flush
the toilet. The time has come

to begin thinking about these
things. The goal of this country
should be one of complete
recycling of resources.

The benefits are obvious.
The decrease in garbage
cluttering our land and water
would be accompanied by the
cleansing of our waterways,
and would lead to less
dependence on foreign nations
for certain key resources.

The costs are also great. A
major upheaval in the thinking
patterns of the American
people is required. We must be
aware of the problem and act
upon it before it ranges out of
control. That is why President
Nixon's refusal to spend $6
billion on waste treatment and
other problems, is so
distressing. The problems
remain, and grow greater every
day they are ignored. The
American people will have to
act sooner or later, and the
cost of solving the problem
increases for every moment of
inaction.

Several cities and states are
embarking on exciting new
programs in waste disposal, and
hopefully will lead others out
of their lethargy if they prove
successful. St. Louis is partially
solving both its garbage and
energy problems by replacing
coal with trash at one of its
power plants. New Orleans will
soon attempt to demonstrate
that recycling can be profitable
to the city, not an unwanted'
expense. The state of Oregon
has outlawed disposable bottles
and aluminum cans, a measure
that will hopefully be adopted
by other states in the near
future.

Research

The energy crisis in this
country in largely a result of
the unwillingness of people to
consider alternatives to fossil
fuels, which are not renewable,
and at the current rate of use
will be exhausted within the
next century. Not nearly
enough research has gone into
such alternatives as solar
power, geothermal power
(using the natural heat of the
earth), wind power, and tidal
power. The government should
be investigating these
alternatives with the fervor
that would exist in time of
war, for example, because the
situation is an emergency
which is becoming more
cancerous every moment it is
ignored.

The major problem
confronting man today is not
pollution itself, but man's own
stubborn clinging to
established and traditional
ideas, which are slowly eroding
the very fiber of human life.
We must encourage
alternatives, especially when
they are as sorely needed as
they are today.