I came from downstate IL; when they came up with the emissions test for us it was an obvious boondoggle- East St. Louis was exempt, but surrounding areas- white areas- were required to comply.
Here I was, being forced to replace my catalytic converter because it was getting old and inefficient, working three jobs to pay for college...while someone in East St. Louis with the exact same problem went unnoticed and did not have to pay a dime.
I drove to school through there seeing buildings on fire many mornings, thick black smoke boiling up from old tarred roof after old tarred roof. Passed and was passed by numerous vehicles exempted from the law that were putting out clouds of visible gunk. Piles of discarded tires burning. And on the other side of the river were those foul city busses running on diesel and putting out gunk that could be smelled three blocks away even when performing at their peak.
Steel Mills emitting fumes, coal burning, oil refineries emitting various colors of gasses, cars burning in the woods that someone intended to collect insurance on, or hide the identities of corpses in... cattail-filled sloughs burning now and then...
But my truck- whose exhaust was not even visible- was the demonic pollution machine, and I criminal #1. Unable to afford a new truck and unable to afford the repairs. Getting junkers off the street? Hardly- most of the junkers in the area were in the exempt areas. Was there an improvement after the repairs were done? No... still drove past the same pollutants every day.
Our testing center was never busy as the people forced to use it were mainly rural or small townsfolk.
Most everyone, where I’m
from also has a gas
powered mower, weed eater,
leaf blower, weed burner,
fire place, edger, hedge
trimmer, log splitter,
kerosene heater. Hell,
I’ve even got one friend
who has a gasoline powered
drink mixer...makes a great
margarita....these all
exist, and I’m exaggerating
when I say each one of my
friends has each of these.
The earth is self healing.
Mother Nature is a strong and
powerful entity. I don’t believe
in open dumping, and would
like to see our waterways kept
clean.
I’ve fished from shore in the
gulf, only to see a plastic baby
diaper float by...catch and release...