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Comment by xyzzy4 | Hacker News Reader

Plastic is the least of Delhi's problems. First they should be banning vehicles that don't meet emission standards. I visited there twice and I'll be lucky if I don't come down with some lung problem.

Edit: They should ban the burning of plastic, not plastic itself. And enforce it.

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Your comment comes off as harsh and ignorant, but is IS a fact that pollution from two stroke engines (and other inefficient burning things) is a huge problem in large developing nation cities. Go look at the air in Lahore or Karachi on a bad day and view the blue-grey smoke emitting from every two stroke motorcycle and motor-rickshaw.

These countries will benefit immeasurably when electric/battery scooters are cheap, efficient, and superior in every way to their unbelievably noisy two-stroke counterparts. It's amazing that one dinky little vehicle can make so much pollution and racket.

Leaf blowers used to be exclusively crappy two-stroke engines that would make a huge racket. Now at least there's a lot of electric competition.

It's going to take a while. Unfortunately there is still a huge gap in terms of energy density and $ per kilojoule or Wh stored between a $650 (equivalent value in PKR or INR currency) two stroke motorcycle, and an electric motorcycle with equivalent engine power and range. Just the batteries for a decent electric motorcycle alone cost 8x more than a typical developing nation locally manufactured motorcycle or motor-rickshaw.

Power distribution would be a problem (well it already is) with the uptake of electric vehicles - although I'd imagine if solar panels get cheap enough everyone could have one at home and just swap a spare battery in over night. Fuel is already quite expensive in India (around the same price as Europe), so it might not be that long a wait.

Power distribution will always be a problem until power distribution is no longer a factor, solar will generate power locally.

Fuel prices go up, solar prices go down, it's inevitable those two will cross and you'll be burning money by using a two stroke bike.

No matter what we do it will never wipe away your prejudice, my friend.

Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion formed without knowledge, thought, or reason. The worsening air quality as a result of vehicular emissions in Delhi is very well documented and will have serious consequences if it is not dealt with seriously. It's not a matter of opinion.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3664745/

I fail to see what the above has to do with prejudice, personally. Poor air quality is a problem in many parts of the world, notably so in developing areas.

The prejudice seems to be "ah India, nice try but you still fail badly in an unrelated area" while in fact in this regard Delhi is more progressive than much of Europe and the US.

Reducing plastic waste is a step in the right direction and should not be dismissed just because there are other problems that may be harder to fix right now.

>"ah India, nice try but you still fail badly in an unrelated area"

That's not what a prejudice is. It's also not what he said. Maybe if people wouldn't be so hypersensitive we could address the problems a country might be facing. India has many issues.

So what if he points that out, while we're discussing a different issue? It's part of having a conversation.

Good points. Would we have the same conversation about the US though? "Electric cars taking over?" - "Wow but pollution due to fracking is a way bigger problem!"

While prejudice is not probably the correct interpretation, the GPs post reads like "don't ban plastic until air pollution is fixed". Any improvement is better than nothing.

Vehicle emissions (and other air pollution) are a problem all over the world. The USA and especially California now have reasonably tight emissions control standards, but Los Angeles used to have horrid smog, to the point children would be told not to go outside to play on the worst days. Now after public outrage followed by well enforced regulatory changes, it’s much better.

In general, a relatively small percentage of older vehicles produce a huge proportion of auto emissions. If governments can enforce regular emissions tests and pull the offending vehicles off the road, it makes an enormous difference to air quality.

India has the worst air pollution in the world. It's not prejudiced to say so.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603649/india-now-has-the-...

What does criticizing air pollution have to do with prejudice?

OP is conflating pollution with his own identity, so an attack on pollution is a personal attack against him and his people.

Haha. Cleaner air takes perceptions a long way =).

Air pollution caused by vehicles and industry is not a subjective matter of prejudice. It is fact.

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