View From the West - Collision Repair Magazine

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Volume 6

Issue 1

View From the West

Written by Tom Bissonette

Friday, 27 July 2007

Have you ever wondered about all this “global warming” stuff? Do you believe “green house gases” are the cause of it? Do you think a 1degree Celsius increase in temperature each year for the next several years is going to cause our civilization to become extinct? Is your weatherman like the one we have in my city? Our guy can’t even give us an accurate three-day forecast, yet a bunch of research scientists seem to have the weather figured out for the next 50 years!

What gets me upset about the idea that global warming is caused by man is that it is just speculation. Nothing has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt. As soon as people start to say things like “the debate is over; my side is right”…beware. The very premise of science suggests that “the debate is never over.”

I think a more credible hypothesis is that our current “global warming” is caused by increased radiation from the Sun and that this event is normal; in fact, it has been happening on and off for centuries. The British documentary “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” can explain much better than I how many scientists see shortcomings in the current global warming theories. Search around a bit on Google or YouTube and you will find it.

Trouble is, even mentioning the idea that global warming is not caused by man brings scorn and ridicule from all corners, so nobody wants to say it. The media has everybody so hyped on environmental issues that people will believe anything they hear in the news about our sensitive environment.

Recently Al Gore was in our province to present his “Inconvenient Truth” propaganda-- courtesy of our provincial government and over $200,000 of our tax dollars. He would not even allow himself to be interviewed after his presentation!

One young lady that I talked to about his appearance mentioned—and I am not sure that Al Gore himself actually said this--that it takes 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose. I replied, “How would you know?”

A simple question, and all I got for an answer was a blank stare.

This is not the first time we have been misled. Remember the Exxon Valdez? That’s the oil tanker that ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound. The environmentalists at the time clamored that it would take--are you ready for this?--1000 years for the area to recover! In fact, within three years hardly a trace of the spill could be found! To see for yourself, check out www.valdezscience.com.

So what does all this have to do with us collision repair folk? The current state of hysteria about our environment has raised our nation’s consciousness about this issue to the point where some fairly draconian ideas have come forward.

Our industry has been turned on its ear to convert our current solvent-based refinish colour systems to waterborne. No one seems to be asking questions and seeking answers from our legislators.

For example, I would ask:

How much of an improvement in air quality do you expect when the only product using water is the colour coat which represents less than one-third of all VOCs currently being sprayed?

What is going to happen with industrial applications? Will they have to develop waterborne paints as well?
Would we not be further ahead if every shop installed energy-efficient furnaces and lighting, and improved their building insulation?

What will it cost, on average, for a shop to make this change? Don’t be surprised when you hear numbers like $30,000. Who should pay for this extra cost?

Everyone seems to be buying into anything that refers to the environment and it has become a “sacred cow.” No one seems to be questioning the logic of this impending legislation.

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