10 ms·

Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas in the 60s and the lack of emissions controls on everything

Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas in the 60s and the lack of emissions controls on everything? Do they yearn for the mines and coal dust of early industrial England? Everybody loves clean air and water but apparently forget why they have it in the first place.

metalliqaz 21d ago
no, they don't
triceratops 21d ago
> Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas Lead causes brain damage and memory impairment...
- bayindirh 21d ago
  ...and lead was standardized only because it was patentable. Otherwise ethanol was enough to achieve the same thing. Brought you proudly by Thomas Midgley, Jr., who solved science problems by making bigger ones. - https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/thomas-midgley-and-the-toxic-legacy-of-leaded-fuel/4014684.article https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/thomas-midgley-and-t... - https://www.ehn.org/thomas-midgley-jr-lead-poisoning https://www.ehn.org/thomas-midgley-jr-lead-poisoning
  - triceratops 21d ago
    > and lead was standardized only because it was patentable That doesn't make much sense to me. It would be more profitable to sell gasoline without lead tetraethyl because you wouldn't be forced to buy a patented product. Just pour a shot of pure grain spirit in your tank on every refill (or however much is needed). It's more plausible that engine technology today has improved to the point that ethanol alone can eliminate knocking. The link you provided gives more context. > One already-known remedy was replacing a substantial proportion of the gasoline fuel with ethanol – though ethanol’s lower energy content made the engines less efficient...[General Motors and Standard Oil] claimed that ethanol – often used in automobile fuels before the war – was an unsatisfactory alternative. and > Unless the fuel producers themselves get into this work of investigating the properties of their fuels, there is a good chance that they may have to pay tribute to others Translation: anti-knock compounds was a good business for Standard Oil to be in themselves. Instead of paying another company for a patented product.
  - ggreer 20d ago
    Ethanol cost more at the time, doesn’t help seal valves, lowers energy density, and eats certain kinds of plastic and rubber that are often used in fuel systems. Leaded gasoline caused colossal harm, but it did a good job of solving problems with fuel at the time.
throwway120385 21d ago
Most of those octogenarians weren't responsible for any of that. Their parents did it for them. If you're 80 you came of age in the 60's, and you wouldn't have been eligible for the Senate or the Presidency until 1970 or 1975. The decline of the US started pretty much when the baby boomers came to power and the people who fought WWII were all retiring.
- throwawaysoxjje 21d ago
  That’s not even what the post you’re replying to said
cooggog 21d ago
> Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas in the 60s No, lead poisoning makes you a brain damaged retard. They can probably hardly remember shit.
aetch 21d ago
They’ll be dead by the time it gets worse again
Muromec 21d ago
Just wait for the new generation of grifters to get their chance to be at the wheel. Current timid bullshit will be billed under nostalgia then.
autoexec 21d ago
> Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas in the 60s and the lack of emissions controls on everything No because they were extremely rich and lived in massive houses set far back from the city streets filled with polluting cars and well away from factories spewing poison into the air. They've lived perfectly comfortable lives in climate controlled and filtered spaces and traveled around to beautiful remote areas where poor people can never go and the pollution had barely touched. They know that they and their families can buy a comfortable and safe life no matter how miserable and sick they make the rest of us. They will always have healthy food and clean water no matter how many of us don't. Our government works best when it's "of the people" but instead the octogenarians in power have almost nothing in common with us (even most of us here, in a forum filled with very wealthy people) and so their interests are not our interests and our concerns are not shared by them.

metalliqaz 21d ago

no, they don't

triceratops 21d ago

> Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas Lead causes brain damage and memory impairment...

bayindirh 21d ago
...and lead was standardized only because it was patentable. Otherwise ethanol was enough to achieve the same thing. Brought you proudly by Thomas Midgley, Jr., who solved science problems by making bigger ones. - https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/thomas-midgley-and-the-toxic-legacy-of-leaded-fuel/4014684.article https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/thomas-midgley-and-t... - https://www.ehn.org/thomas-midgley-jr-lead-poisoning https://www.ehn.org/thomas-midgley-jr-lead-poisoning
- triceratops 21d ago
  > and lead was standardized only because it was patentable That doesn't make much sense to me. It would be more profitable to sell gasoline without lead tetraethyl because you wouldn't be forced to buy a patented product. Just pour a shot of pure grain spirit in your tank on every refill (or however much is needed). It's more plausible that engine technology today has improved to the point that ethanol alone can eliminate knocking. The link you provided gives more context. > One already-known remedy was replacing a substantial proportion of the gasoline fuel with ethanol – though ethanol’s lower energy content made the engines less efficient...[General Motors and Standard Oil] claimed that ethanol – often used in automobile fuels before the war – was an unsatisfactory alternative. and > Unless the fuel producers themselves get into this work of investigating the properties of their fuels, there is a good chance that they may have to pay tribute to others Translation: anti-knock compounds was a good business for Standard Oil to be in themselves. Instead of paying another company for a patented product.
- ggreer 20d ago
  Ethanol cost more at the time, doesn’t help seal valves, lowers energy density, and eats certain kinds of plastic and rubber that are often used in fuel systems. Leaded gasoline caused colossal harm, but it did a good job of solving problems with fuel at the time.

throwway120385 21d ago

Most of those octogenarians weren't responsible for any of that. Their parents did it for them. If you're 80 you came of age in the 60's, and you wouldn't have been eligible for the Senate or the Presidency until 1970 or 1975. The decline of the US started pretty much when the baby boomers came to power and the people who fought WWII were all retiring.

throwawaysoxjje 21d ago
That’s not even what the post you’re replying to said

cooggog 21d ago

> Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas in the 60s No, lead poisoning makes you a brain damaged retard. They can probably hardly remember shit.

aetch 21d ago

They’ll be dead by the time it gets worse again

Muromec 21d ago

Just wait for the new generation of grifters to get their chance to be at the wheel. Current timid bullshit will be billed under nostalgia then.

autoexec 21d ago

> Do the octogenarians in power not remember when they couldn’t breathe because of the lead in the gas in the 60s and the lack of emissions controls on everything No because they were extremely rich and lived in massive houses set far back from the city streets filled with polluting cars and well away from factories spewing poison into the air. They've lived perfectly comfortable lives in climate controlled and filtered spaces and traveled around to beautiful remote areas where poor people can never go and the pollution had barely touched. They know that they and their families can buy a comfortable and safe life no matter how miserable and sick they make the rest of us. They will always have healthy food and clean water no matter how many of us don't. Our government works best when it's "of the people" but instead the octogenarians in power have almost nothing in common with us (even most of us here, in a forum filled with very wealthy people) and so their interests are not our interests and our concerns are not shared by them.