IP: end of thread -- Halon Alarm

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9.0.1.3108
> Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 11:54:25 -0800
> Subject: Re: Halon Alarm
> From: Paul Saffo <psaffo () iftf org>
> To: <RICHSHILL () aol com>
> CC: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> Rich,
>
> Thanks for your note. I am not one of the 100% types you describe, but and I
> am well-informed on the topic of global warming, and also on the subject of
> fire control and fire extinguishers. I simply don't see the benefit of
> selling Halon extinguishers to anyone other than to trained professionals or
> for controlled industrial applications. The fire professionals I spoke with
> were of the same mind.  The vast bulk of fires do not require halon at all,
> and Halon is in fact is a lousy way to put out conventional fires. It would,
> for example, be at best a mediocre extinguisher for general household use.
>
> And about "tiny quantities," Griots is a huge operation and who knows how
> many they might sell?  Each unit holds more CFCs than is in a refrigerator
> or air conditioner, and those industries are going to great trouble to
> recover old CFCs and otherwise avoid releases.   And consider another "tiny
> quantity" application: photographic "canned air" (in fact, it was a cfc)
> products used for dusting off slides and negatives.  The photo industry has
> redesigned these products to be CFC-free, so they obviously consider their
> "tiny" application important nonetheless.  While everyone else is thusly
> struggling to avoid Halon and CFCs, it strikes me as just a bit dumb to be
> spraying it out of household fire extinguishers.
>
> Perhaps the common ground between our two views is this.  If Griots is going
> to sell Halon, they have a duty to inform the consumer about two things:
> --the environmental impact of halon, and
> --the appropriate use(s) of halon extinguishers.
>
> Then at least consumers can make an informed purchase decision, and
> hopefully, use their Halon responsibly.  But at present, Griots fails to
> deliver even this minimal amount of information, and no matter how you slice
> it, that is bad business.
>
> Best
> -p
>
>
> on 1/20/02 11:05 AM, RICHSHILL () aol com at RICHSHILL () aol com wrote:
>
> > Paul,
> >
> > Gosh, is the sky falling too?  People who are convinced that 100% 
> control of
> > 100% of potential harmful substances, without regard to use or quantity are
> > living in a dream world.  Halon is a good fire extinguisher.  To sell it in
> > what are tiny quantities to individuals, with the object of putting out
> > fires, is OK in my book.
> >
> > Go after the utilities, who probably put out more greenhouse gas in a day,
> > than Halon fire extinguishers would in a century.
> >
> > Richard Shilling (Please note, a name - not "-r")

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