Closing Republican Dealerships June 3, 2009March 15, 2017 Do NOT miss the Keith Olbermann clip. But first . . . YOUR STATE FLOWER Here‘s a nice way to see it – at the end, when the music stops. (Thanks, Alan.) THE CURRENT WHEELTUG® HANDOUT I know. I know. But still. DIESEL Peter Kaczowka is still not buying it [and if Shai Agassi’s plan works, he won’t have to!]: “Clean diesel has less pollution-producing sulfur, but recent research shows that the particulates (fine soot particles) emitted by diesel engines are deadly. Diesel engine exhaust kills an estimated 21,000 Americans a year [1]. Clean diesel cars have particulate filters that remove 85% of the particulates [2] so if all our diesel engines were made clean they would ‘only’ kill 3150 Americans a year (15% of 21,000). Clean diesel vehicles emit more pollution than gasoline vehicles, and hybrids are ten times cleaner than either. [3]” ☞ Actually, footnote #2 says 85% or more of the particulates are removed; and it’s not clear that 15% as much pollution equals 15% as much death – it could produce more or less. But I want a solar panel generating the electricity for my Tesla. When I get a Tesla. Or my Volt, when Chevy starts selling them. Zero pollution, except as required to make the car and the solar panels. Stewart Dean: “1) The new 50-state diesels are California CARB compliant. The reason they haven’t been until now is that the US truck and refining industry wanted to stick with high-sulfur diesel. But when you burn sulfur, you get sulfuric acid which eats up tailpipe emission devices. Europe has had ultra-low sulfur diesel for years…and clean emission diesels. The US is just catching up. And I’d ask Peter what the impact of double the CO2 is on the health of the planet, to say nothing of all the nasty heavy metals in the nickel cadmium Prius batteries. . . . 2) Diesel fuel is the same as home heating oil. By supply and demand, it’s more expensive in the winter, cheaper in the summer. It’s now cheaper than gas at any main route service station. . . . 3) Diesel fuel has more energy (it’s heavier), the engine is inherently more efficient that an Otto (gas) engine, the torque (pulling power) of it is better optimized for MPG. . . . 4)Diesels are simpler than hybrids…which means greater reliability, longer life and lower cost. . . . 5) Like Peter, I’d like regenerative braking, too….like BMW puts on its diesels in Europe, where one beat a Prius for MPG in a road test from London to Zurich. Everyone would do the world a favor if they stopped racing up to red lights and then racing away from the green. Most the time you don’t even have to use the brakes if you watch the lights far ahead. When you stop, you throw away energy…so keep moving, just not with such haste.” Gary Diehl: “Just to clarify, running your diesel on straight vegetable oil generally requires modifications to the engine and/or the fuel system to make it work. However If you are inclined to drive cheaply on deep fryer dregs, there are thousands of people who are now doing it by making their own biodiesel. Most small restaurants generally have to pay someone to haul their used oil away so they tend be happy to give it to anyone who wants it. With some processing and easy to acquire chemicals this oil can be turned into a fuel that will run fine in almost any diesel engine without any modifications at all. Processing the oil is definitely not for everyone, but it’s not overly difficult either and in the end you get a perfectly usable fuel for less than a buck a gallon. Anyone interested should go here for the full story.” OLBERMANN ON THE CLOSING OF REPUBLICAN CHRYSLER DEALERSHIPS I love this.