Proposed Gas Tax and Small Cars

Meadows has been guilty of providing you and your readers with some misleading information that may end up costing well-intentioned citizens a lot of money. Among other statements she declares that it will be beneficial to the environment if we drive smaller cars because they will expel only half as much air pollution. That statement is completely false! She has apparently not read the regulation which is based on vehicle miles driven regardless of whether the vehicle is a Cadillac or a Geo! The state and federal regulations both limit the emission to 2 grams per vehicle mile and are not related to vehicle weight or engine size.

Also, I can’t believe that purchasing small foreign cars will benefit the balance of payments. How will buying a new car benefit your pocketbook?

No one questions that it’s a good idea to save energy, and we should all be saving wherever possible; but fuzzy thinking such as Meadows has espoused only discredits the entire effort. The fact that she is listed as a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth is a matter for concern for our nation’s environmental training. ERIC E. LEMKE Former Chief Deputy Executive Officer South Coast Air Quality Management Dist.