Since it 'tis the season to be warm ... where do y'all stand on burning wood ? Do you favor CA style controls that outlaw open fireplaces and wood burning stoves ? Is the soot and smoke bellowing from your stove a sweet smell evocative of ye olde good country living or a toxic, potentially carcinogenic, waste byproduct indiscriminately blanketing the countryside and smothering me whenever I dare to venture outdoors ? Should I believe the EPA when it says ...
"Smoke from wood heaters is a major cause of air pollution. In fact, during winter, wood heaters can produce two to three times as much particle pollution as cars. Not only is a smoking fire wasting your money, but the air pollution it causes can also affect our health."
"Wood smoke contains a number of noxious gases (including carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and a range of organic compounds, some of which are toxic or carcinogenic) and fine particles, which go deep into the lungs."
http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/woodsmoke/index.htm
And I've not even touched on the carbon cycle / global warming issues.
Is wood burning as big, or even a bigger issue, than 2 stoke pollution ?
I'm sure all the environmentally aware people supporting a ban on 2 strokes would never be caught burning wood, at least in it's non-pelletized form.
All fun aside, I'd suggest that people can't live in a non-polluting way. At a minimum we eat, digest and pollute (really). The real question is what are the local conditions, what are the significant contributors and what are the real alternatives (cost is an issue despite what the EPA mandate is). Just how big is the local problem ? Is this a debate about a molehill or a mountain for NH ?