Ma'at Kheru: Ban on Leaded Fuel

[travis]

Ban on Leaded Fuel
A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.

Category: Environmental
Industry Affected: Automotive
Proposed by: Bears Armed Mission

Description: The World Assembly,

Recognising that internal combustion engines burning various organic fuels, such as short-chain hydrocarbons, are a method widely used for propelling vehicles,

Aware that burning short-chain hydrocarbons in some types of engine can lead to irregularities in the combustion cycle, a situation called ‘knocking’ that both reduces fuel-efficiency and increases wear on the engines,

Informed that one solution found for this problem is the addition of other chemicals to the fuel as ‘anti-knocking agents’, with organometallic compounds containing Lead (e.g. Tetra-Ethyl Lead) as a common choice for this role although reliable alternatives to them also exist,

Concerned that using those organometallic compounds for this purpose disperses Lead into the environment where it can be taken up directly by some life-forms and can also pass on accumulatively up the food-chains involved, possibly crossing national borders in the process, because Lead is a cumulative poison to many types of organism and can cause serious health problems even at sub-lethal dosages,

Believing it desirable to end this spreading of poison;

Defining the term ‘leaded fuel’ to mean any fuel mixture including organometallic compounds of Lead, or of any other metal of comparable or worse toxicity;

Hereby requires that each WA member nation _

1. Begin at once to restrict the numbers of vehicles requiring leaded fuel for efficient running that it produces and imports, so that the annual average number of such vehicles in use for civilian purposes within its borders for any year after one year has elapsed since the date of this resolution’s passage (or since the date when the nation first joined the WA, if later) will be no higher than the annual average number of them in use there for the year immediately before that initial date, and take further steps so that within no more than four years since that initial date no such vehicles at all are produced there for civilian use;

2. Begin at once to restrict the amounts of leaded fuel that it produces and imports for civilian use, so that the total amount of such fuels available for civilian purposes within its borders per year after one year has elapsed since the same initial date as for clause #1 will not exceed the total amount that was available there for that use during the year immediately before that initial date (or, if supplies were restricted during that previous year because the nation was at war for any part of that year, the total amount available there for that use during their most recent full year of peace instead if their government would prefer this figure), and take further steps so that within no more than four years since that initial date no such fuels at all are produced within its borders or brought into therein for civilian use;

3. Begin at once to restrict both the numbers of vehicles requiring leaded fuel for efficient running and the amounts of leaded fuel which it produces and imports for military use, on the same basis as it must restrict the availability of such vehicles and fuels for civilian use within its borders, unless it is in a state of open warfare at any stage during the four years following the relevant initial date in which case it may postpone the deadlines once by whichever is less out of a further four years or the duration of hostilities.

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Votes For: 571 (47%)

Votes Against: 644 (53%)

Voting Ends: in 3 days 22 hours

Amongst Osiris residents, voting is currently 1-2 (66% Against).

Your Regional WA Delegate, Cormac A Stark, has not voted on this resolution.

AGAINST. I really don't think that the content of the fuel burning in our tanks is any of the WA's business.

[Treize Dreizehn]

Against. This is ridiculously overreaching.

[Andrew]

Against. This is ridiculously overreaching.

^ What he said

[Cormac]

Also against.

0-4-0. Voted against.

[Ainocra]

I am ambivalent on this one. I'll go whichever way the islanders want.

[Applebania]

For. Lead=poisonous=bad, and it's the kind of thing that sensible governments should be taking steps to not release into the atmosphere. Add that on to the fact that there are better ways to power your car, this resolution allows substitutes that aren't as toxic as lead, and the deal is sealed.

[Cormac]

1-4-0. Still against for now.

[Ridersyl]

Against.

[Sector ZYX]

can anyone vote here?

[Cormac]

Any citizen, yep!

1-5-0. Still against.