I have noticed some paints promote low or zero VOCs, what are they and why is having less or none better.
I agree. I think that in the long run, when we're in the George Jetson age, technology will connect function/performance with "green" ideals. But in the short term we're screwed. They've got the ratchet on us now and they're going to slowly tighten down whether the paint cos and technology are there or not. Your concerns and needs are of no concern to them, period. Screw off peon. Look at the oil companies.I have found there is not a good replacement for oil based primers. I recently painted a basement with a laundry list of problems that only oil based primer or paneling would cover. Never again. Products in our future will not be required to last, labor will be ten times cheaper than products.
Not sure that last point is valid in that novel:huh:MTBE was the brainchild of the federal government. They mandated that gas companies add MTBE to gasoline to help it burn cleaner, more fully, in engines. The idea was to reduce air pollution. Whether it cleaned the air or not is debatable, but we now have poisoned groundwater. It's also been found in carpet/fabric of automobiles, and even in mother's breastmilk. And now we're going to mandate lightbulbs with mercury, to "clean" the air, and in twenty years our water supply will have toxic mercury levels. Do you see the genius of the government intervention into the markets?
That the oil companies can be sued for MTBE is ridiculous. The govt forced them to do it, and now they're liable? That shouldn't be legal. I remember reading a story after the 1996 re-election of Bill Clinton. The article discussed the insertion of language into a piece of legislation that gave the green light to the trial bar to sue the oil companies over MTBE. This was a payback to the trial lawyers for their cash and support of Democrats and Clinton. It's all politics and we pay the price.
Ethanol is another failure. It's use is more damaging to the environment as a whole that just burning straight gasoline. A fact that Al Gore sheepishly admits. It's big political money, and we pay the price through higher food prices. Corn is now more valuable as a fuel additive than a food product. It's also creating food shortages in poor countries where corn is a dietary staple. The government knows all this, well. But does it stop the use of ethanol? No. The money is so lucrative, and the environmental whackos are so strong, that they are going to increase the required percentage to 15, in spite of the fact that it damages engines and the auto manufacturers have told them to expect major engine issues and voided warranties on engines not designed to burn that blend. It's politics and we'll pay the price. You don't care, so they don't.
I would not argue that, but I am not sure what ,if anything, can be done at this point. It is a bad, sad time in historyIt might lack validity on two points. What you say may be true on the individual level, but on the collective I'm correct, not enough care or know enough to care. Also, even if you do care it wouldn't matter to them. There was a time when government served us, it more and more seems we now serve them. Tip of the hat to you.