Sharing Rides Is Cheapest Way to Go

Daniel Akst’s column “Clearing the Air of Smog Without Clearing Out Jobs” (Aug. 27) seems contradictory and wishful.

It contradicts well-documented articles in The Times about specific companies, such as McDonnell Douglas, that have found the regulatory environment in California so burdensome that future projects and jobs will be placed in other states. Other companies are gone, and many more will follow suit.

The centerpiece of his “alternative” is copied from a Unocal publicity stunt (crushing old cars for $700) that was designed to draw attention from Unocal’s reluctance to reformulate its gasoline.

Would Akst impose a law that would force people to take scrap value for a pre-1975 auto, in effect stealing the vehicle?

Can he prove his statistics that 10% of the vehicles emit 25% to 50% of all pollutants? Doubtful. Doesn’t he realize that older cars are driven fewer miles per year than newer ones? Or that older cars must pass smog checks?

The political impact of his proposal would be negative. Low-income families forced to give up their car and buy a more expensive new one would cry for help. I would vote against any politician who supported such ideas.

STEVE SNYDER

Orange