[Texas Eagle]

"The rules would reduce the level of greenhouse gases, largely carbon dioxide and methane..."

At the risk of sounding ignorant, I have 3 questions:

1) Don't cars emit carbon MONOXIDE?

2)Don't humans emit carbon DIOXIDE?

3)Don't plants convert carbon DIOXIDE into oxygen?

[Johnny Crab]

Uh, I think so.....so this may end like the tree-hugging fire starters with DAVIS causing an endangered plant that might save the planet to become extinct because it NEEDS the CO2 he's getting rid of?

[heleny]

1) Don't cars emit carbon MONOXIDE?

CO is a byproduct of incomplete burning of hydrocarbons, such as gasoline. CO₂ is the final form when burning is complete. (The other main byproduct is water vapor.)

When an engine burns gasoline, it typically doesn't burn every last drop of gas completely, especially if insufficient oxygen was available to some molecules of gas. Some carbon monoxide results, but not nearly as much as the carbon dioxide that is generated.

Oxygenated gasoline is required in some places to reduce the cumulative emission of carbon monoxide and other poisonous chemicals by making burning more complete. MTBE and ethanol are oxygenates that may be added to satisfy "clean-burning" requirements, but MTBE was found to leak into groundwater. It was supposed to be phased out by the end of this year, but, fearing ethanol would raise gas prices steeply, which would hurt his reelection campaign, Davis extended the deadline by one year.

Plants use carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis. The opposite occurs during respiration, but, overall, more oxygen than carbon dioxide is released.