Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Smoking Policies

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Hey OK, dangerous fumes, big problem, yes.  Many environmentalists think that 
coal-fired power plants and two-ton SUVs create more dangerous fumes than 
cigarettes.  Fumes that are quite likely to dramatically change climate 
conditions around the world, and bring grief to hundreds of millions, perhaps 
billions, of people.  The evidence known to me shows that carbon dioxide 
emissions from power plants and single-occupant passenger tanks are far, far 
more dangerous than second-hand smoke.

So, if I were going to charge off and seek to put the kibosh on dangerous 
fumes, I wouldn't start with smoking in the private residences of my coho 
community.  Unfortunately, in the instance of greenhouse gasses, the burden of 
proof IS on the consumer, not the producer, of fumes.

R Philip Dowds AIA
Cornerstone Cohousing
175 Harvey Street, Unit 5
Cambridge, MA 02140
617.354.6094

On Nov 21, 2011, at 6:35 PM, Moz wrote:

> I put it more generally, that any activity that generates dangerous or
> offensive fumes be undertaken with care for other people. If I'm welding I
> think it's reasonable that I'm required to mask the flash and filter the
> fumes that I generate, and that I don't weld in ways that inconvenience
> others without their agreement. But the onus is on me, the welder, to get
> consent, not on the anti-welding crowd to find me and persuade me not to
> poison them.