Just thinking out loud here, but you've got at least three problems with car racing as related to environmental health: gas usage in the races themselves, the use of leaded gasoline, and the hundreds of thousands of cars that drive to the races.
Doing a full calculation of the environmental cost of NASCAR (number of cars per race, number of miles per race, number of miles per practice run, number of races per week, number per season, number of fans driving to the races, number of beer cans thrown out the window) is beyond me.
So, just as a question, how much would the elimination of auto racing as a sport help with carbon emissions and associated problems? Any of our 17 weekly readers care to help out with some stats?
Some folks have thought about it, though I can't vouch for the strength of their cases.
Here's one article, by Charles W. Schmidt, who writes in Environmental Health Perspectives about the relationship of sport and environment. Called, "Putting the Earth in Play: Environmental Awareness and Sport" (full citation: Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 114, Number 5, May 2006), Schmidt notes the following:
Although the EPA phased leaded gas out of the consumer market more than 30 years ago, its use in stock cars has gone on with the agency's blessing--an exemption was written into the Clean Air Act. Lead lubricates engines, helping them run smoothly, but it's also a neurotoxicant that can lower IQ, particularly among young children. In December 2005, a draft EPA document titled Air Quality Criteria for Lead stated that leaded fuel may pose a serious risk to residents living in the vicinity of racetracks, fuel attendants, racing crew and staff, and spectators.
In a pilot study published in the February 2006 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, Joseph O'Neil of the Indiana University School of Medicine and colleagues found elevated blood lead levels among some mechanics and crew members of a NASCAR race team. Specifically, the median blood lead level in 47 tested individuals was 9.4 micrograms per deciliter, which approaches the EPA's own risk threshold of 10 micrograms per deciliter, over which toxic effects can be expected. Nineteen of those individuals had blood levels at the EPA threshold.
For years, the EPA has urged NASCAR to quit leaded gas voluntarily. The industry claimed it was trying to find replacements, but also insisted the ones that were available lowered performance and harmed engines. But in January 2006, under pressure from Clean Air Watch, a Washington, DC-based environmental group, NASCAR finally relented. The industry will begin using a lead-free fuel made by Sunoco called 260 GTX by 2008.
And I am shocked, shocked!, to find this article at Fox News, written by the Junkscience.com guy, that says "eco-harassment " shouldn't stop NASCAR from using unleaded gas.
An article at emagazine says that "At race speeds, NEXTEL Cup cars get 2 to 5 miles per gallon." The same article does a rough calculation (which the vaunted wikipedia says is disputed) to puts "NASCAR's total fuel consumption across all series at 2 million US gallons (7.57 million liters) of gas for one season."
Another fun fact (from the emagazine article): ""New Hampshire toll roads chalked up some 2,570,347 vehicles for one August week of the Winston Cup races in 2003."
Fear not, though -- ethanol will save us (here), Sonoco's got that covered, GM is working on the problem of fuel efficiency (here), and Indy and NASCAR are both touting their eco-friendliness (here). What? What? You're skeptical too?
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So what's the point....NASCAR is going unleaded next year:
http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/01/20/nascar.fuel/
And it uses 2 million gallons of gas a year:
...which most people think is an overestimate, ans sure sounds like a lot, but is .001% (check my math!) of domestic consumption:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question417.htm
".. in the United States, something like 400 million gallons
(1.51 billion liters) of gasoline gets consumed every day."
So why NASCAR? I'm guessing because you don't like it to begin with. You could pick on Congress passing coal YES COAL!! subsudies, or the horrific lack of public transportation throughout most of the US, or lack of leadership on alternative fuels, or any other sport people sit in enormous traffic jams to get to-but the sport most of your readership probably doesn't relate to at all is a pretty easy target, no?
A while back, I did a back of the envelope calculation which suggests that the average NASCAR driver emits about the same amount of CO2 as the average American who drives an automobile. (I don't think I actually say that in the post, but it comes out that way.) The calculation does not factor in practice, qualifying, or the fuel spectators use to get to the events.
To add to the comment by RobertC, some of the races this season are using unleaded fuel. About half, if I remember correctly.
If you want to ban NASCAR because of the fans that drive to the races, you should also want to ban all other sporting events as well. I haven't looked at CO2 emissions from automobies traveling to races, but I would bet it's fairly small; I don't think many people drive 1000 miles to see a race.
Looks like they've been assured several more generations of fans with that nifty trick.
Actually, those cars do run unleaded and they actually burn fuel more efficiently than any production auto. In fact, at speed they burn 100% of the fuel in the combustion chamber. Not bad for a naturally aspirated engine (that means no fuel injection, they use a carburetor). As far as all of the cars that drive to the races, hells bells lets ban football too, and baseball, and basketball.
I have an acquaintance whose paycheck derives largely from NASCAR. We had a very similar conversation about this topic last year. It seems to me that my friend expends quite a bit of personal energy to maintain the cognitive dissonance, er, strategic ignorance necessary to continue that work. I know I couldn't do it.
Yes, my friend noted the small number of cars on a track at one time make the absolute amount of fuel consumed seem small by comparison to overall American consumption. But I noted that the meme-spreading influence wielded by this segment of the entertainment industry multiplies its harmful impact by several orders of magnitude.
Auto racing glorifies a practice that we know is harmful, a practice that robs our children and grandchildren of their future quality of life.
That's harmful. That's unethical. We should be ashamed to condone a practice that we can easily assess as harmful. If we wish to proclaim that we are grown-up members of an advanced society, we should be ashamed that we so visibly and so blatantly flaunt our strategic ignorance.
Suppose, instead of distracting each other with most favorite and least favorite sports, suppose we ask ourselves what really matters to us most?
Suppose we ask ourselves how we would behave now if we seriously believed our children and grandchildren would hold us accountable for the consequences of our behaviors?
Brrmm brrmm!
I wonder if this constitutes some major shift: we can get our knickers in a knot about threats to our entertainment, but little comment on the rather monumental challenge to faith in the previous posting on the Intelligent Design Biotech Corp.
Methinks it was around this point that Rome found itself in a spot of bother...
You've forgotten the environment impact of building the racetracks themselves (which probably come with big parking lots too).
Personally, I always thought that golf was an environmentally dubious sport. We cut down trees (and other native plants) and replace them with large fields of grass which takes huge volumes of water to keep green and then traps that water near the ground surface, rather than allowing it deeper. Might as well cover the ground with pavement. People drive around in silly little carts too.
First of all you have one of your BASIC facts wrong (not surprising).
NASCAR switched to unleaded fuel, what you didn't notice, or care to because f underlying bias?
Secondly, so they pollute, purchase a few carbons credits from Al Gore's company and all is OK with NASCAR's world. Right?
The one thing that environmental folks never address is the fact that the vast majority of the CO2 in the atmosphere most likely was put there during the industrial revolution in the early 1900's. No environmental scientist can say how much the CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing right now and/or if it may even be decreasing.
0.001 of domesic consumption is an awful small amount of gasoline to write a specific law banning a sport that so many people enjoy.
Watching cars go around in a circle burning gas for entertainment is irresponsible.
id kill someone if nascar is canceled
I honestly cant believe this has even been raised. This really has turned into a Nanny world. If you stop Nascar then you have to stop F1, F2, F3 & Touring cars as if you look at their stats they are far worse than Nascar. Get a grip and realise that what were doing wont change the world for millions of years to come. Ooooh it makes me mad!
Hey, I'm cool with that -- ban F1, F2, F3 & Touring cars too.
we will never banned nascar nascar will stay here forever and ever hell if your going to banned nascar we might as will drive bikes everywhere and walk to town to town fat chance that is going to happen
well said, well spoken, creeper. you have a real knack for the language. wouldn't want any stereotypes perpetuated here.
listen
nasCAR is the best go dis some other sport weirdo
Can't we just have one sport without all the negative. Sure gas prices are high, and we have wrecks once in a while but all in all less emissions come out of a race then on a daily trek to the office by everyone. Lets just enjoy it or turn the channel.
Nascar is the greatest sport ever
R u serious u want nascar to be banned for bad crashes and people dieing! people just die driving on the road, peole die from drug and u dont c them stoping anytime soon! Its part of life ur gonna die somtime!
Nascar is awesome, why would you ban it? This is moronic dude.
I'm sorry I don't get something here. I understand that leaded gas is bad for the environment and I'm all for phasing it out because of that, but please don't tell me that leaded gas is responsible for making everyone who lives near a race track a little dumber! Correct me if I'm wrong but leaded gas wasn't phased out completely until 1986 they didnt even start phasing it out until 1975! There were defiantly more cars burning leaded gas in 1975 then all the race cars put together now. I have heard many arguments that everyone from my generation (Generation X) is brain dead and far be it from me to dispute that, but that would mean that our parents had been breathing in leaded gas for many years before the baby boomer baby's were born. Does that mean that everyone over the age of 30 has a lower IQ than everyone born after 1986 when lead was finally removed from gas? Man, don't tell the kids now a days! We have been telling teenagers that theyre stupid for years now and telling them they have been wrecking the earth, maybe theyre smarter than us, after all they don't have to breathe lead gas now do they! My point is folks this is a worthy cause but gimme a break! Dont believe every statistic you read and for heavens sake find a much bigger cause to worry about and fight for.
SAVE THE WHALES!!! Oh damn! We did that already!
So what! I am in britain and love Nascar so much better than F1. Nobody complained when steam trains were in there hay day and they burned coal. History shows that the planet's atmosphere heated up million of years ago and then cooled down to sub levels (ice age) although nobody admits it the tell tale signs are there and quite a few Scientists will agree. Global warming is the it thing to talk about at the min and will pass once every country has reached there targets.
One spot of rain on a tree huggers holiday and the world needs to stop and take notice of them. Wind power huh go and blow infront of a windturbine, that should cover your emissions of using the computer. But then thats ruinning the landscape and aren't you against that aswell?
who the fu@k are you ! its pin heads like you that need banning. always looking for something to get rid of instead of your sorry azz self. ive got a carbon foot print for you, right up your azz.
nascar is the best sport ever so who ever thinks it should be banned should die you f'ing retards
im with yo mama i will kill if nascar is banned but it will never happen so keep dreamin hippy you polute and burn more gas driving to your 9-5 everyday or in this case the hippies you polute more by watering and tending to your pot crops retards
This entire page and conversation is Gay. And being that some hippy liberal wrote this crap, I hope that the use of the word "gay" also offended you. Quit believing the liberal media's crap!
Once again some liberal's "utopia" sounds exactly like my version of Hell. I look forward to the warmer and dryer world where less NASCAR races will get rain delayed...
Of course anyone with only half a brain knows that global warming is natural (unless those dinos were driving SUVs)...
Save the Planet! Spare our dollars!! Save our lives!!
The average NASCAR gets 4.5 miles per gallon and each race has about 50 drivers and there are about 40 races in the season. They use over 200,000 gallons of gas in a year!!
Sprint Cup cars get 2 to 5 miles per gallons consumption under caution can be estimated at 14-18 mpg!!
According to NASCAR, about 6,000 U.S. gallons (~22,700 litres) of fuel are consumed during a typical Sprint Cup weekend!!
One environmental critic recently estimated NASCAR's total fuel consumption across all series at 2 million U.S. gallons (7.57 million liters) of gas for one season!!
The $41,505.75 worth of fuel used in a NASCAR race is a drop in the barrel compared to what fans consume driving to and from the race. One needs only to turn on the TV to see the acres of RVS, SUVS, sedans, and trailers converged every weekend. There may be 43 cars on the track, but there are tens of thousands of vehicles in the lot!!
On average, 150,000 people attend a race and average 100 miles round trip. Even at 20 MPG, that's 750,000 gallons of refined gasoline or 38,265 barrels of crude oil. If Iran's crude output is 4,000,000 barrels a day, well, you can take it from there. These "wha-hoo's" say NASCAR is going unleaded. I think NASCAr "and" it's fan have been "un-leaded for years! All the exhaust fumes they havew been inhaling, have probably decreased the lead in their pencils!!
Another general area of criticism, not only of NASCAR but other motorsports as well, includes questions about fuel consumption, emissions and pollution, and the use of lead additives in the gasoline.
Take a good look:
Car Companies going bankrupt?? Duh . . . they sponsor these idiots who drive around in circles, and chase their tails. They continue to develop gas guzzling cars, SUV's, RV's.
Oil and Gas Companies showing huge profits?? Duh , , , they sponsor these idiots, "or" charge the non-sponsored ones the "farm" for so-called special gasoline "racing brews". I thought moonshining was illegal. They rake in the profits from these idiot fans, who drive these gas hungry RV's to the event.
High consumer Gas Prices? Duh . . . We (the public) are paying for these Wha-hoo's (through these oil company's sponsorships) to race around in circles, and chase their tails!
Accidents on the rise, due to speeding and road rage? Duh . . . Auto racing encourages people (especially our kids) to speed around and race with their buddies. They think it's COOL!
Car-to-car shootings, fights in the middle of the street?? Duh . . . Idiot racing fans are only mimicking their Race Driver heroes, who fight on the track.
High insurance Prices?? Duh . . . Accidents? Speeding? Hello, anybody home??
A set of tires for your car will set you back $800-$2000? Duh . . . Tire companies sponsor these "Wha-Hoos". You are paying for those racing tires, which might last "maybe" a few laps? Rubber pollution?? Where does all the worn rubber go?? You love the smell of "burnt" rubber? Check your sperm count!!
Brake liner dust?? Duh . . . I think that can't be very good for us. Where does all that toxic dust end up?? Lung Cancer? "One-eyed" fish, with two tails?
Green House affect? Smog?? Duh . . . Auto Racing just "compounds" the problem. Are we, the public trying to cut back on polluting, just so Auto Racing can survive? I thought it was so we can survive??
If Oil companies can formulate these blends of fuel, using petrolium alternatives for race cars, they can surely formulate affordable, alternative fuels and blends for the public consumer.
Ban NASCAR, and save fuel and decrease (and even eliminate) US dependance on Middle Eastern oil. No racing means less pollution. Use Technology to formulate affordable blends for consumers, not just for these "Whaa-Hoo" racers. Force these idiot "Wha-Hoo" fans to get a life, and retire their gas guzzling RV's, and follow a "real" sport.
If we do not conserve fuel, we'll all be walking to work.
"BAN Auto Racing . . PERIOD!! Auto Racing is not a Sport, and serves no purpose.
A very concerned American.
If you want people to "save the world" just make sure they like it how it is. Your a concerned American but was it the americans who tested nuke's at high altitude's and you used three in Japan Hiroshima being the well known one. If you so worried about walking to work get a hyrodgen car the only thing that comes out of it, is water Honda makes one good looking car that should sort out your concern about fuel shortage so Motorsport can continue. oh Bluefan by the way what litre is car RV or what ever you drive?
David,
You are an idiot.
#1) I am a Japanese-American. A proud Honorably Discharged American Veteran who served (volunteered) for the service, during the Vietnam Crisis.
#2) My Parents, and Grandparents too, were proud Americans, only to be disgraced incarcerated in concentration camps during the war. Losing their homes, jobs, and belongings.
#3) My Father was a veteran, and although he was unjustly incarcerated while in High School, he still had enough pride in himself to serve our country, when he was old enough to volunteer.
#4) I drive a Toyota Hybrid. What gas guzzler do you drive?
Yes, America makes mistakes, and I am by no means perfect either, but unless we americans open our eyes, Things will never change. As long as we continue to condone the mistakes our country's leaders are making the worse things will get.
To bring up the Hiroshima bomb has nothing to do with this discussion, But, if you wish to bring it up, it really is just one of the many things that our government has done to disgrace our country. Another is to allow Oil companies to manipulate energy costs to fill their pocket with the people's money, and entertain Whaa Hoo's who support Auto Racing. We are paying high prices for gasoline, much of which goes to sponsor motor sports. In times when our government asks us citizens to "conserve fuel and energy", and "go-green", and "Don't pollute", they continue to allow oil companies to rape us at the pumps and allow the wasting of fuel and pollution of the air we breath, in such pointless exhibitions of speed and ignorance.
Instead of allowing oil companies to formulate racing fuels so idiot drivers can race around in a circle (like a dumb dog chasing its' tail!), they should mandate the formulation of greener, cleaner burning fuels, which are less dependent on petroleum. If oil companies can make fuels to power race cars at 200+ MPH, then they surely can develop these same types of fuels for use in our everyday automobiles.
Please think, before you speak.
A very, very concerned American (because there are probably a zillion more idiots like you out there!)
Bluefan.
Bluefan I drive a ford fiesta mk3 1.6 litre i get 200 miles to £20 of petrol (about half a tank.)
Did some research found a website which compared the 1.5 litre Toyota Hybrid compared to a 2.0 litre BMW tested in normal driving conditions
Model BMW 520d SE
Engine 1995cc, four cylinders
Power 177bhp @ 4000rpm
Torque 258 lb ft @ 1750rpm
Transmission Six-speed manual
Official fuel/CO2 55.4mpg / 136g/km
Performance 0-62mph: 8.3sec
Top speed 144mph
Road tax band C (£115)
Price £27,190
Fuel used on test 10.84 gallons (50.3mpg)
Fuel cost £54.19 (diesel)
Model Toyota Prius T Spirit
Engine 1497cc, four cylinders
Electric motor 50kW/67bhp
Power 77bhp @ 5000rpm
Torque 295 lb ft (motor) 85 lb ft (engine)
Transmission CVT automatic
Official fuel/CO2 65.7mpg / 104g/km
Performance 0-62mph: 10.9sec
Top speed 106mph
Road tax band B (£15, alternative fuel)
Price £20,677
Fuel used on test 11.34 gallons (48.1mpg)
Fuel cost £54.64 (petrol)
(If someone can convert these into $ it will be appreciated)
BMW 520d SE
Fuel used on test 10.84 gallons (50.3mpg)
Fuel cost £54.19 (diesel)
Toyota Prius T Spirit (Hybrid)
Fuel used on test 11.34 gallons (48.1mpg)
Fuel cost £54.64 (petrol)
Think the problem here is that this greener tecnology is expensive to make and mass produce and has a long way to go before people start buying green.
Jay Leno on James Mays 21st Centry says he would drive his Toyota Hybrid during the week and then drive his sports car at the weekend turning his sports car into a hobby. Like how the horse it went from being the main transport in UK and USA to being no more than hobby now.
I would pefer if the petrol, gas guzzling, smoke producing sports cars are made more into a hobby at the weekends or special occasions then getting rid of them completely.
Hello David,
I appreciate your attempt to research, but I am not totally convinced that a BMW can outperform a hybrid vehicle, as far as fuel consumption, pollution, and MPG.
Hybrids are not designed to compete with BMW's, they are designed to save fuel.
Of course, "pedal to the metal" mentality will not produce the designed expected mileage of a hybrid vehicle. This does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. Hybrids are designed for economy, environmental purposes and sensible driving, not for racing around in the city.
As far as occasional weekend hobby of speeding around, and, and weekend NASCAR/Formula activities, there is no justification for such fruitless activities. Every milliliter of petrol we save, and every milligram of pollutants we eliminate, is a be a step in the right direction, to help save the planet, and supplement our reliance to fossil fuels, until our nation can seriously & actively force oil companies to pursue fossil fuel alternatives, and at the same time postpone the depletion of the ozone, which we dearly need to survive. Also force car manufacturers to develop affordable, "greener" cars.
Yes, I drive a hybrid, and yes, I use fossil fuels (shame on me), but at this point I do not have an alternative (100% electric, or CNG vehicles are still not totally developed or feasible, in it's early stages of development). But, at least I am trying my best to help our planet, until we can develop more economical and practical alternatives.
Bluefan,
I'll agree with you on a small scale Bluefan. Calling something that gives millions of people joy fruitless seems fruitless in and of itself. Autosports and motor vehicles are not sports per se, but a hobby, and a hobby that i personally enjoy more then anything. Although i do hate Nascar. But outright banning it? Which type of socialist country would you like to live in? I guess weekend drag racing is gone too? O. That new craze drifting... poof.
Lets look at one of your hobbies shall we? What give you pleasure? For millions and millions of people it happens to be cars. Whats yours?
I think you are right in saying our auto companies need to work towards making more fuel efficient and more hybrid/completely fuel less cars. There is a reason American auto companies are suffering so bad...
Sure you drive an economical car. I think people as such should start getting tax credits. And i think people like me who get 15 mpg on a daily basis should get taxed a little more for the cars we drive. It's a choice i made a ways back, and i can deal with it. Japan, as you should know because it seems you know everything, already does tax rebates/raises for vehicles. Most people aren't in a financial state where owning 2 cars is possible. I spend a little more on gas sure, but i drive less and carpool as much as possible.
And you are wrong about 100% electric. They do exist if you only want to drive about 200 miles and wait approx. 16 hours for a re-charge. But then where is that charge coming from? Is your electric company green yet? Do you have solar panels on your roof? How about a tank less coil indirect hot water heater?
Honda now has a full production Hydrogen vehicle called the FCX with 0% emissions. If you want to talk yourself up some more about being green there ya go.
Be the green savior.
Seriously, when you attack adaptation arguments, why shouldn't people think you're attacking evolution? Natural selection is about adaptation to the environment--even genetic drift doesn't escape that because it has to survive selective pressures, and drifts that are maladaptive are likely to be selected agains.
I must say I am very impressed with his ability to reason things out for himself despite a life of indoctrination in the Baptist church. The fact that the feeling of being lied to drove him to spend a year and a half understanding the science as well as he could shows an incredible amount of dedication to seeking the truth (lower case t). I always feel with these sort of stories that science has missed out on a great brain.
You might be a polluting hypocrite if...
You drive any sort of self-propelled vehicle - any sort.
You consume goods hauled by truck, boat, plane or anything other than pack mule.
You have ever farted.
You breath our communal air - no, wait...if you breath MY air.
And you single out NASCAR to bitch about unless you've first held your breath for 15 full minutes.
Nascar is awesome! I propose that we just give all the cows beano each morning and save the world!!
get cancer
go to hell ya tree hugers
Self-propelled vehicles do not need to be powered by fossil fuels.
NASCAR is useless. Most other fossil fuel powered vehicles can and should be replaced by vehicles which do not consume fossil fuels. However, some sort of self-propelled are quite important to most aspects of our lives. I quit driving fossil-fuel powered vehicles in 1991, but, having done it, I know very well that not everyone can do it. And, obviously, I continue to rely on fossil-fuel powered vehicles indirectly, though much less than most people.
Your other complaints are idiocy.
Because of all of you tree huggers I have bought a NEW F-350 Pick up truck to haul my 650 HP race car to the track every weekend this year...A two hour haul in each direction with the trailer behind me! I get about 9 MPG! HOOOYAH!!
My carbon footprint must be HUGE!! I am with one of the other posters A warmer planet is a better planet, when I want to be cooled off, that is what air conditioning is for! A warmer climate will reduce the number of rained out weekends we will have, last season had a record number of rain dates at our track here in the north east!
Oh...I almost forgot....Aviation Fuel is still contains lead. When I get bored I take my plane out and poke holes in the clouds and pollute the friendly skys ! There are millions more gallons of leaded fuel being burned by the general aviation pilots annually than NASCAR ever burned!
I think I have added another New Years Resolution....To make my Carbon Footprint as big as possible!!!!
Sigh. Most of the comments on this post are just a great example of why our society is probably doomed.
Life is not meant to be lived carefully.....You only live once, nobody is getting out of here alive. So as I see it, I should arrive at the grave in in a grand fasion, going as fast as possible sliding sideways, with a whiskey and coke in one hand a steering wheel in the other, smoking a big old cigar and surrounded by hot horny women! YAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!....WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!! Too bad we can't do it again! I would much rather die in a plane crash or racing accident than lay around rotting away, waiting to die in some old folks home!
Maybe that is the real problem here....You tree huggers have trouble getting laid on a regular basis (Remember women don't like sissy men, metrosexuals or whatever fancy term you come up with for yourselves).....Get out of your rut, take some chances, women love that! Getting hurt once in a while really doesn't hurt that bad....You will heal. Instead of insisting the rest of the world become a bunch of sissies like you.....The worst thing that could happen, is you die, it is going to happen someday any way...That isn't so bad, if you don't believe me, take a ride down to the local cancer ward, tell me if that way out is a better alternative. Remember chicks dig scars.
I guess my point is I really don't care about burning some "fossil fuels"....If oil is in fact a non renewable fossil fuel, and there is some real scientific debate surrounding that issue right now. Big deal, we will figure out something else to burn.....CO2 is good for the world, ever hear of photosynthesis??? If you had payed attention in school (Instead of smoking plants, which by your own definition pollutes the atmosphere), you would have learned that every green plant makes O2 (Oxygen for you tree huggers) from CO2.....So explain to me why CO2 is so bad...????
Don't be so arrogant/ignorant to think we humans could possibly have an effect on the global climate!!!
Come on man! How many people get hurt in football and have to drive to the hospital which uses electricity that comes from burning coal. Get a life and something else to pick on. I have an idea. lets just kill all electricity and gas powered objects and live in a hut in a field and eat grass. That would work wouldnt it!
Yes....You are on the right track, but you better hold your breath and don't fart, while you live in your grass hut.....When we breathe we expel Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and when we fart we expel Methane (CH4)....So our mere existence on this planet is supposedly killing it.
I am right now, looking out the window at 30 inches of snow.....Oh, yeah baby, I really feel the global warming!
Well it has been a GLORIOUS month!!! Three open practice sessions, and three races now. The new Ford truck burns 42 glorious gallons of diesel fuel round trip to the track!! Works out to about 9-11 miles/gallon....NICE... We have so far gone through 26 sets of race tires, and about 140 gallons of Sunoco's best!
Only about 20 more weeks of racing left for this year! Get out and see the competition!
Oh....By the way, has anyone thought about how to clean up or stop the Iceland volcano???It is spewing more sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, than every automobile ever build every day! Also lets not forget about the ash, and the radioactive elements that are present in it....Hmmm probably bad....Real BAD...
Hmmmm....Seems to me that the volcano in Hawaii spews 400 tons of sulfur dioxide per day, thats 12,000/month. Really makes you feel bad about driving that Expedition around doesn't it???
Oh, lets not forget that there are about 70 or so active volcanoes on the planet. I know one of them spews 1,400 tons/day of sulfur dioxide. So lets just average them all at 400 tons/day that is 28,000 tons per day, 840,000 tons per month or just over 10,080,000 tons annually!
Now I really feel bad about driving this diesel F-450!
You morons really should think for yourselves before blindly following the idiot Al Gore.
Come on man! How many people get hurt in football and have to drive to the hospital which uses electricity that comes from burning coal. Get a life and something else to pick on. I have an idea. lets just kill all electricity and gas powered objects and live in a hut in a field and eat grass. That would work wouldnt it!
I love car racing as much as the next guy, and always wanted to be a "race car driver" after seeing the Indy 500 for the first time, but guess what folks!... it's time for RADICAL change. we need to ban all types of racing or atleast limit the number of types of racing. make it a big time event - one Indy and one Daytona a year. honestly who the hell watches truck racing anyways!! go ahead call me crazy or whatever you want. we'll see what happens in 30 yrs.
Nascar is a waste on so many things and is polluting the earth. Its not interesting to most people just the dumbest ones. It needs to be killed.
Ian, you must be the dumbest person to say that. If you kill nascar, you are laying off hundreds or possibly thousands of jobs that work for Nascar, laying of the people that work for each track also having the track owners probably sell the track or file bk too. That will totally help our unemployment too...
The us alone burns over 300 millon gallons a day so I dont think 2 millon is that much of a big deal. Thats .00000183 percent of what the usa burns in a year.
Great website, thank You !!
(good article!)
I've been trying to figure out how a country that has a huge national "sport" like NASCAR consistently produces automobiles that are far less quality than a country like Japan which produces top quality automobiles, but cares much more about the environment than Americans (on average).
Americans' greed gets in the way of good communication and caring. Wise up, wise up; Throw away pride, conceit and anger; STOP watching Television and use your mind and heart.