While you weren’t paying attention, the Kyoto Protocol — signed in 2001 — went into effect this month. Although this treaty will affect your life as you know it for as long as you live, there’s a good chance that you haven’t even heard of it because it’s one of those esoteric environmental initiatives that’s all too easy to put off thinking about until another day, assuming that there will be one. But I don’t want to be too harsh on you. Some of my friends thought I was talking about a lizard...you know, the Komodo dragon. Kyoto, Komodo close enough they say.
To make sure that you indeed know what I’m talking about, the Kyoto Protocol is a landmark treaty requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. It is supported by 141 nations but doesn’t include the world’s biggest polluter, the U.S. of A. (We represent 4 percent of the world’s population, but are responsible for 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases.)
What would bring 141 nations together? It’s certainly not brotherly love but rather the fear that global warming will lead to severe droughts and the extinction of some species.
So what kept our country from joining? The fear that our economy would suffer. Moreover, the Bush administration is fearful that two major emerging countries — China and India — likely to follow more lenient guidelines would pull ahead of us in the economic race.
The single biggest source of air pollution is motor vehicles. Along with the car manufacturers, we are in the business of keeping cars on the road, which means we have to take some responsibility for the millions of tons of the hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide that spew out the tailpipes of almost 200 million vehicles. Don’t we? But if we do, do we have to worry about being the next tobacco lawsuit?
Although we don’t usually think about it in these terms, we in the aftermarket love all the things that increase emissions.We’re elated when we have extreme weather conditions, conditions that make it difficult for cars to run efficiently. And it’s almost orgasmic in this industry when we notice that people are driving more miles which, again, means more emissions.
It’s not that we consciously want more pollution. In fact, most of us who want to be grandparents want a better — cleaner — world for our grandkids. We just want parts to wear out so that we can replace them. Got to make a living, you know.
Collectively, we support a system that helps fuel our own demise. Individually, we are helping save ourselves from ourselves.
Look at what we do every day in parts stores and shops alike: We advise customers that poorly maintained or malfunctioning vehicles can release as much as 10 times the emissions of a well-maintained one. We advise customers every day to have a technician check out used cars they consider buying to make sure that pollution controls are working properly. We advise customers to inflate their tires to increase their gas mileage. And so on.
Our government may not have signed the Kyoto Protocol, but I feel somewhat vindicated that on a daily basis our industry overrides politics. Now isn’t that a breath of fresh air?
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