On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:54:38 -0700 (PDT), Fran
wrote:

On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote:
18 Apr 2009

The inevitable has happened.

The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to li=
ve,
and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant.


snip specious rant

|||
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that
causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e.
physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of
chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy.
Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or
energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are
considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution

||||

Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring
when they exceed natural levels".

The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so
talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi --
a red herring.

Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste"

pol=C2=B7lu=C2=B7tion
Pronunciation: \p=C9=99-=CB=88l=C3=BC-sh=C9=99n\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination
with man-made waste


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution

So again, nothing to do with spotted owls.

Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions,
or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the
pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution
that is excessive.

It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what
exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there
are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from
vehicle exhausts.

CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is
simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the
oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring,
and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the
anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted
that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much
is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least
in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce
existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the
atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future,
hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or
excessively rapid climate change.

Fran


What do you do when it is Governments who are the polluters.
For example, all the Coal fired power stations in NSW are owned and
operated by the NSW Govt.
What do you do about pollutants that originate in other countries.