CALIFORNIA POLLUTION MANIACS NOW TARGETING WINERIES

But, surprise, surprise, it's really big companies like Gallo that they are trying to hurt. But you can expect anything of loons who think they should stop cows farting and burping

Napa and Sonoma may attract wine connoisseurs and tourists to their bucolic settings to taste well-known wines, but the San Joaquin Valley has long been the industry workhorse, producing most of the nation's wine. Now environmental regulators say the same process that gives the region's affordable reds, whites and blushes their pleasant punch is also producing a share of the smog that makes the valley one of the nation's dirtiest air basins - and they aim to do something about it.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is considering imposing the nation's first air quality control on wineries, focusing on the largest vintners - companies such as E&J Gallo, Delicato, and Constellation Wines. Wineries are the latest target of the district, which has struggled for years to clean up the valley's persistent pollution, by first going after manufacturers, the construction industry, and even home fireplaces.

Recently it has turned to agriculture, which had long been exempt from the controls imposed on municipalities and other businesses. The district has already asked farmers to keep the dust down during harvest, and is even looking at controlling emissions from dairy cows.

Wineries have come under scrutiny because the fermentation process that turns grape sugars to alcohol releases ethanol, methanol and other organic compounds into the atmosphere, where they react with sunlight and heat to form ozone, one of the components of smog, air regulators said. With the region producing roughly 70 percent of California's table wine, that results in 788 tons of pollutants a year. Of the 109 wineries in the valley that put out about 338 million gallons of wine each year, 18 are responsible for about 95 percent of the emissions that lead to smog, regulators said. Pollutants emanating from the three- to four-month fermentation process hit the atmosphere mostly in September and October, when federal smog limits are most often violated, according to the air district.

Since no other country asks vintners to control emissions, the regulations will cut into profits, producers said, and could hurt the position of valley vintners in the international market. California is the world's largest producer of wine after France, Italy and Spain. Much of the San Joaquin Valley's production ends up in $5 to $10 bottles, attracting customers looking for an affordable product. An increase in the cost of production would translate into a price hike that could hurt their market share, producers said. "This is going to be another increase in cost that is going to put me at a disadvantage," said Steve Kautz, president of Ironstone Vineyards, which has about 5,000 acres of wine grapes. His Bear Creek Winery in Lodi produces 600,000 cases a year of Leaping Horse, a popular line that retails at $5 to $6 a bottle.

Equipment proposed to suck up vapors released in the winemaking process would be required on the largest stainless steel fermenting tanks - those holding 50,000 gallons or more. That would mean outfitting 20 tanks at Ironstone's Bear Creek facility, potentially a large investment, said director of operations Craig Rous.

Industry representatives said they want to work with the air district, but complained untested equipment could hurt their product and cost tens of millions of dollars - too much for the amount of pollution it would eliminate. "When you look at the amount of ethanol that wineries are accountable for, and for the amount of emissions - it's a very small fraction," said Wendell Lee, an attorney for the Wine Institute, which represents about 800 California producers.....

Community activists dedicated to cleaning up the dirty air said the area can't afford to make exceptions. Pollution forces some residents to stay indoors for months, when emergency rooms see a spike in visits from people with respiratory problems. "If we let one industry off the hook, others will want the same," said Mark Stout, air quality consultant with Fresno Metro Ministry, a nonprofit that works on issues affecting the Fresno area. "If we don't all pitch in, we're not going to make it."

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HOW AWFUL! CELLPHONES ARE OK

Hatred of modern technology loses another round

Mobile phone users can dial without concern after another study found no evidence of a link between the ubiquitous devices and brain tumors. The study, conducted by the London-based Institute of Cancer Research, and published this week on the British Journal of Cancer's Web site, found no increased risks of a rare benign tumor in the nerve that links the ear to the brain. It echoed the findings of a similar study by Swedish investigators last year and of scores of other studies investigating a possible link between the use of cellular phones and brain cancer.

Researchers questioned 678 patients already diagnosed with the tumor - acoustic neuroma - and 3,553 who did not have it, about their cell phone use. There was no increased risk of tumor associated with using the phones for at least 10 years. Retrospective questionnaires are not considered the most accurate method of determining a link between behavior and disease. Several previous studies, using more rigorous methods, have also found no evidence that the phones pose a health risk.

However, scientists have said it may not be a good idea for children to use the phones for long periods because their brains are still developing. Also, it is too early to tell what the effects of long-term use will be on adults. "The results of our study suggest that there is no substantial risk in the first decade after starting use," said lead investigator Anthony Swerdlow. "Whether there are longer-term risks remains unknown, reflecting the fact that this is a relatively recent technology."

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Ignore rumors; Teflon proven to be safe "The uncanny ability of President Ronald Reagan to deflect public criticism won him the nickname 'The Teflon President.' Ironically, now it is Teflon itself that is facing the heat, as anti-chemical groups and trial attorneys have joined forces to cook up controversy over a product that has become one of America's most trusted consumer icons, and an integral part of our language, like Thermos and Kleenex. Like many product-safety scares these days, the concerns that have been voiced about Teflon are bogus."

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Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else, truth regardless.

Global warming has taken the place of Communism as an absurdity that "liberals" will defend to the death regardless of the evidence showing its folly. Evidence never has mattered to real Leftists

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