In the Aug. 25 issue of The Citizen in section B is a story on smog. As an environmental consultant to industry, it really bugs me when the media shows pictures of the discharges from cooling towers and implies that this is pollution.

It is water vapor; you know, like “clouds.” The tall slim one is the “smoke stack” and you will notice you see nothing coming out of it.

I'm sure many people were duped into thinking this is some huge polluting factory. And of course the article never actually says anything about the picture, so “no harm, no foul,” right? Is this ethical? Or is it okay to imply a lie if the cause is noble?

Meanwhile, in the letters to the editor, [Lou] DeFranco's concern is gas golf carts and wood burning fireplaces. But why not voice a concern about something truly useless and much more polluting like the burning of leaves and yard litter?

The dioxin production rate from such smoky open fires is much higher than from dry wood in a fireplace. And the concern with gas golf carts is ludicrous in comparison to the number of gas lawn mowers, gas trimmers and gas blowers, which people seem compelled to use unnecessarily. I see a lot of them out there mowing their nearly dead lawns, furthering its demise, in the hottest part of the day.

Besides, have you ever wondered what that “new-mown grass” odor is? It's hydrocarbons. Every time you cut your grass, it releases hydrocarbons. Especially when it is hot, they just cook out the end of the cut blades. Have you thought about why they are called the “Great Smoky Mountains”? Yup, [naturally occurring] hydrocarbons again, especially during the hottest time of the year.

All of this is part of the “haze” trapped by a seasonal weather phenomena beyond the control of man. When it comes to the environment there is a lot of what people believe that is not true. And a lot of what can only be a “cognitive disconnect”; e.g., it is criminal for an incinerator to burn waste but okay to pollute the neighborhood with burning leaves.

To complicate matters, it serves the vanity of some to specifically blame autos, or gas golf carts, or fireplaces.

Everyone wants “something done” about pollution and because of misrepresentation and ignorance that “something” is usually centered around forcing others to use public transportation, drive smaller cars, use electric golf carts (with lead/acid batteries, which can be argued are more of a menace to the environment during production and disposal then the use of a gasoline engine) and deprive a few people of the vicarious pleasure of an occasional fire in their fireplace.

All of this while denying nature's role in the problem. The politically correct phrase we are bludgeoned with is: “Man is the cause of pollution.” But we live in an age of low “individual accountability,” ethically challenged pressure groups with an agenda and more than a little class envy.

So the message has become: “Man is the cause of pollution. But it's not me, it's those SUV drivers, those guys with the fancy houses and their fireplaces...” I can not conceive of a more unethical or divisive message.

It doesn't matter what the concern is: guns, pornography, the environment, child abuse, government corruption, education, crime, drugs, it all comes down to individual accountability and ethics. Without ethics and accountability, “laws” are just another obstacle to people, like the morning traffic or a rainy day, where there is no right or wrong only, “How can I get away with this?”

Without ethics and accountability persuasion is affected through lies and deceit. This is hardly the basis for a democratic society.

David L. Constans
Peachtree City

[Editor's note: Mr. Constans is correct that the illustration in question shows water vapor, not pollution. No deception was intended from the graphics person who picked the stock photo, but we apologize for the error, nevertheless. On the other hand, we have not yet discovered how to “show” the pollution that he portrays coming from new-mown grass.]

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