On Dec 9, 2004, at 11:32 AM, David Breneman wrote:
>> Whoa! Don't panic. You are not correct about the practical details
>> of California's current laws.
>
> I don't think I'm being overly alarmist.
I think you might be. Calling on Washingtonians to help "put the
kibosh on this lunatic scheme" *without even knowing the details of the
scheme* seems alarmist to me. But that's just me.
I plan on trying to get some details on what this means and call my
legislature to raise specific concerns. Taking a sky-is-falling
approach didn't work in California, New York, or the other states that
have adopted the CA emission laws. It won't work here either. Likely,
my questions will be directed by the money: "how are we going to pay
for this; will higher education get to eat a cut AGAIN?"
> Obviously, all I know
> about California's laws is what I read on this and other mailing
> lists from other Californians complaining about tham. But in
> addition to the limits California law places on new models
> available in the marketplace, it imposes quite a burden on the
> owners of older cars.
Does it? For the state of Washington, the law will likely eliminate
the 25-year rolling exemption. Since the legislature is out of session
until March, this means vehicles of the 1981 model year and later will
be required to pass emissions inspections for the life of the car. I
feel the originality requirement is over-zealous and counterproductive,
but I don't have a problem with tailpipe inspections.
Then again, I am one that feels that all cars that are licensed should
pass a mandatory SAFETY inspection, and that the state needs to put
teeth in the auto insurance laws... so I may not be the best voice of
reason :)
> Either way, this will be a watershed event and
> it will accomplish nothing except to give more power to
> the state and reduce the diversity of vehicles we have to
> choose from.
California and much of the northeast have already adopted these laws.
Canada is considering them at a federal level. At this point, the
diversity in new cars is lost; it is too expensive to develop 2 cars
for a single (fractured) market. By 2009, we will be getting
"California" cars.
In Spokane for many years, every winter comes with a layer of smog. It
settles in the valley and stays until spring. It hasn't happened for a
couple years and a large part of that is the emissions laws and fuel
formulations we like to complain about.
It is not a black and white issue.
--
Aaron Whiteman -- http://www.panix.com/~awhitema/MG/
'75 B (red for now), HIF carbs
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