Yes, I think we can agree on this topic quite amicably. Yes, the military is still exempt from this requirement to be lead free, but as one of the articles suggested, as the mass market for consumerists shifts away from lead free soldering the manufacturers begin to change how they produce it. In otherwords, to create tin with led content requires a specialized facility. This sort of operation creates extra costs and so the product increases in cost as well in order to cover the overhead. Further, this product can't be used in standard electronics going to the average consumer, thus reducing drastically who this product can be used for, and again driving the costs higher still. Now the military, like any goverment agency and most large corporate entities always sources out to the lowest bidder. They will sign multimillion, if not billion dollar contracts with one or two of these manufacturers, thus reducing significantly whats left of the pie for the other manufacturers. They in turn fold thier specialzed facilities as they aren't worth the extra costs to produce a stock that wont sell. Eventually, the military will be forced to start purchasing lead free products, and i'm fairly certain have already done so in a number of cases where the risk isn't as great as say in a missile guidance system.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be an alarmist, and I'm not saying we shouldn't go lead free. I am however saying it is irresponsible for any government organizations to mandate changes that don't have credible solutions to the problem it will create in the immediate context. Relying on the mandate to force researchers into developing a solution can go bad in many different ways. All it takes is one company to develope and patent a feasible solution to the problem that ends up costing the consumers bundles more. At least, if you are going to mandate a change, give companies the opportunity to phase out the product over a longer timeline. A year isn't anywhere near enough time to do this responsibly.
Now someone brought up the arguement (and I believe its valid) that while the immediate threat of lead in electronics is negligable, the land fills and the garbage being dumped into the oceans flush with products with lead in them are a far greater threat. This is very true, I wouldn't debate that. Heck, how many people these days avoid eating fish due to lead content? lots... This arguement however shouldn't be used against the use of lead, but should be used for advocating better waste management. Lead is but one of thousands of deadly products that end up in land fills and the ocean. To single it out, and completely ban its use within such a short time frame is irresponsible. We all know that politics is a matter of catering to your constituents and your money lenders. And such drastic steps appeal to the Green in all of us, and more specifically to the millions of individuals who don't really realize the extent of its usefulness and necessity. So the majority of people support this decision blindly, thinking that their government is thinking green and making positive changes. The reality is, they're doing it to get voted back in, and though there are likely some that believe whole heartedly that what they are doing is for the better good, the vast majority of the politicians make their decisions in a cold calculated way in order to ensure supremacy. Meanwhile, really worthwhile issues for environmental factors like landfills and dumping garbage in the ocean aren't brought to the forefront, and are left for someone else down the road to handle.
This is what truly gets me heated, and I think it should get all of us heated. Modern democractic nations need to give their governments a serious raking through the coals for the sake of cleansing. A wake up call if you will. People need to get angry, and they need to stop accepting pitiful half-measures that their elected officials put into play. The whistle should be blown, and heads should roll for unnacceptably weak laws and mandates. Its my opinion, that this is one of those things that falls under the unacceptably weak category, along with many others.
