We all make those decisions, that's the short answer. Or, we collectively
agree to make those decisions--we ban the use of lead paint, ban the use of
leaded gasoline, mandate the installation of catalytic converters on all new
cars and trucks, implement wetland protections with teeth, etc. I know
people who still feel aggrieved by catalytic converters and unleaded
gasoline, their rights were obviously trampled, etc., etc. But I have rights
too--rights not to have my property dusted with lead from car exhaust and
flaking housepaint, not to breath nitrogen dioxides and suffer the effects
of acid rain from the nitric acid that forms from the nitrogen dioxides
generated by internal combusion engines unnecessarily.
As Americans we get a truly stupefying range of choices. Do I buy an SUV
even if I don't live on an unpaved road, work construction or go camping
weekly? Do I buy a cheap water heater that's inefficient in energy use, or
spend more money on a higher efficiency model that will probably last longer
anyway? This can get very mundane very quickly.
I know the SUV issue always pushes peoples' buttons, but I guess that's
symptomatic of what we're talking about. We're all rightly concerned about
our own freedom, but there are tradeoffs with the larger world that we can't
really complain about later.
--Bruce Stallsmith
Huntsville, AL, US of A
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