Parking Lots . . . and Less
I just noticed an interesting new law that was passed in the District of Columbia. As of July 1, coal tar pavement dressings and sealants cannot be used or sold. It was also banned in Austin, though that ban has been criticized. The D.C. ban, which is part of the District's storm water regulation, is designed to prevent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from being washed off of parking lots and entering streams, rivers and Chesapeake Bay. It was determined that the dust coming from parking lots sealed with coal tar products have concentrations of PAHs that are 80 times higher than the dust from unsealed parking lots. While there is an alternative to the coal tar product, it has its deficiencies.
For the entrepreneurial type out there, this is a trend worth following. It used to be that we would 
allow the conscience of the consumer to choose the environmentally better product. When that didn't work, because most consumers buy the cheapest and/or most effective product (which is not often the environmentally friendliest choice), at least two legislatures came up with an alternative -- ban the product. This same reasoning can be found in the banning of phosphorus containing fertilizer.
I'm not trying to be critical here, I'm just trying to point out a trend. I would say that perhaps the next product to be considered could be char-broiled hamburgers, but my guess is that the burger lobby is a little stronger than the coal tar pavement dressing lobby. But that's just a guess.
