Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:02:08 -0600
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Bostig, CARB EO,
the reasons why not WAS: [WetWesties] Washington state...changes
in vehicle licensing rules..
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=fkjJ2MzVoEzM+zW9=RSUyvQmuvqVvWsjK6uxh@mail.gmail.com>
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---- Jim Akiba <syncrolist@BOSTIG.COM> wrote:
> > Incedentally. a while ago we had a "Scrappage Scheme" similar to the
> > American one which was designed solely to sell new cars, we had an
> > unlikely alliance of car enthusiasts and Greens both decrying it as it
> > did nothing for th environment at all.
>
>
> The program here was modeled off both German and Japanese programs, Canada,
> and the state of California by itself have also done this.
Texas had a very successful program to remove old polluters from the roads by paying those who trade in for new a premium, somewhat like the "cash for clunkers" program. An important difference was that for a Texan to qualify (s)he had to live in an air quality "non-attainment" county (Dallas, Tarrant, Harris, Bexar, El Paso, or Travis, home of the six largest metros in the state). Also, IIRC, the new vehicle had to be in one of the less polluting classes, so a gas guzzler would not be allowed, though of course it is a legal vehicle.
When are we all going to accept that we've got to do something effective, and that regulations are not evil? I like my VW Vanagon GL Campmobile (camper), but feel guilty because it does pollute more than the newer and smaller vehicles I also own. But, in Oklahoma we don't have any regulations except that the vehicle must, when sold new, meet the legalities in place at the time it was sold. No inspections, nothing to determine if it operates as it was originally licensed to operate. The catalytic converter can be a shell, because though that is illegal, no one is ever going to look, there is no law to provide for looking. Any suggestion that we should be doing anything raises the ire of the oil industry, which controls 27% of the state economy and a much larger share of the state legislature. Sort of like when I lived in Kentucky and The University of Louisville initiated a ban on smoking in university classes. The legislator who introduced the bill to make banning smoking in any state owned or leased facility illegal said, "The University of Louisville needs to know who pays its bills." The bill passed and was signed into law.
Is it true that we as Vanagon owners are a special class, and that we should be allowed to install equipment that WE say pollutes less than WE say some other equipment does? What about ON OUR VEHICLES? We don't know. The laws in California are designed to make sure that any vehicle class meets the requirements. The fact that a Bostiq engine is, theoretically, less polluting does not mean it will be less polluting when installed in one of our vehicles. So, the certification process for engine transplants. Sounds good to me.
Yes, regulations may from time to time stop me from doing something I would like to do because it serves the purpose of the moment. I would like to go down to the local creek and catch and keep a couple of dozen small-mouth bass. Regulations stop me from doing so. I wade fish and catch and release. Lots of fun, and i can catch and release dozens in a day. It probably would not even have much of an effect on the bass population if I kept them, as relatively few people fish for bass in these creeks (wade fishing is too much work for most, and boating is not practical in these small streams). But, the regulation is intended to protect the population throughout the region, and it seems to work. I'll abide, and not make a fuss.
mcneely
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