End-to-End Systems Engineering Needed

* I have just finished reading Kenneth R. Janowski’s article “State Taking Wrong Road in Drive for Electronic Vehicles” (Commentary, June 12). I am overjoyed to see him point out that generating the electricity to charge the batteries causes pollution, and that this must be counted against the electric cars. These cars are not pollution-free.

This is what we engineers call end-to-end systems engineering, a way of saying, “Look at the whole picture.” It’s too bad that politicians and their staffs seem unable to take this approach. We might be a lot better off.

Crime, welfare, health care, drugs, etc., are all amenable to this kind of analysis. But as Lester Thurow pointed out in his book, “The Zero Sum Game,” we have government by special interest groups, precluding any rational approach to solving the problems that plague our cities, counties, states and nation. Thus we have electric cars, which do not create less pollution but only move it someplace else.

SAM BRUNSTEIN

Glendale