Bill Wattenburg’s Open Line to the West-Coast

Sunday, June 30, 1996


Earthquake!

Lots of callers called in during the first hour with reports of the moderate earthquake felt in the SF Bay Area at about 9:30 PM.


Bill told a later caller some more details about the new gasoline mandated by CARB. He said that documents released two weeks ago prove that it was never adequately tested, and that CARB has admitted to the state legislature that they indeed lied about the testing. He also stated that one of the additive (MTBE) is producing formaldehyde during the combustion process, and releasing it into the atmosphere, and may be releasing other toxic compounds as well. MTBE is also known to be a solvent which doesn’t degrade in the ground and groundwater as oil and gasoline do, but travels great distances, polluting the ground more than oil and gas do.

The next news update reported that the earthquake was a 3.5 shaker centered northwest of Pacifica.


Sierra Club gets a Special Break

Donna in Meadow Valley has contacted the U.S. Forrest Service about a cabin in the Tahoe National forest. When Donna first heard about the cabin, and that the Sierra Club was using it, the Forrest Service reported to a congressman that it was owned by them, and leased to the Sierra Club and other groups that wished to use it, through a special use permit.

It turns out that the Sierra Club actually does own the cabin, and is in an area where the Forrest Service has forced other property owners to abandon their cabins in the same wilderness area, but had given the Sierra Club special attention, and allowed them to stay. Donna had received further information that the Forrest Service was now going to force the Sierra Club to move the cabin to one of seven locations outside of the wilderness area.


Insulate!

Dave in Benecia called in response to a previous caller’s question about how to keep his house from getting too hot. His house was already well insulated, but was still getting hot enough that he had to run the air conditioner. Dave’s suggestion was to install sun shades on the windows, to keep the sun from heating up the house. This is a better solution, he said, than curtains or double-paned windows, neither of which keep significant amounts of the sun’s energy out.


Guess Who?

I asked Bill if the new smog tests were based on pollution emitted per gallon or per mile. He said that he believed it was based on emissions per mile.

This is extremely unfair, however. CARB measured the reductions per gallon. What that means is that since they are measuring emissions based on distance traveled, which are higher than with the old gas because we are burning more gas per mile, resulting in increased pollution.

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