Posted on 03/17/2005 9:14:29 AM PST by SierraWasp
Pollution plan proposed
Governor says goal is to remove 15,000 polluting vehicles from road
By Hank Shaw Capitol Bureau Chief Published Thursday, March 17, 2005
RANCHO CORDOVA -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to scrap one polluting car for every California kid hospitalized with asthma.
Schwarzenegger on Wednesday proposed to nearly quadruple the state fund for retiring or repairing "gross polluting vehicles," a move he hopes will go a long way toward cleaning up the state's air.
California's air quality is fragile, and the San Joaquin Valley suffers particularly because smog and other pollutants get trapped in the low-lying region and cannot easily be blown away by the wind.
Experts say pollution in the Valley contributes to more than 1,000 deaths a year
State officials say air pollution also contributes to asthma suffered by roughly 15,000 children who spend time in California hospitals each year. Schwarzenegger says his goal is to retire that many polluting vehicles annually.
To do this, he plans to spend $16.3 million in the next fiscal year for the Consumer Assistance Program, up from $4.5 million this year. The program, which began in 1998, was suspended for two years beginning in 2002 due to budget cuts.
Anyone with a car or truck that fails a smog check can apply to the state for grant of up to $1,000 to scrap the jalopy, or as much as $500 to get it up to code.
Most such vehicles are at least 15 years old and emit at least twice as much pollution as allowed under the law. According to the state Bureau of Automotive Repair, a car built in 1980 belches about 30 times as much pollution as one built today.
Schwarzenegger showcased his proposal Wednesday by crushing a 1987 Chrysler New Yorker at the Rancho Cordova Pick-N-Pull auto yard, where old cars and trucks are crushed for scrap or laid out for parts.
"When it comes to the environment, status quo is not an option," he said. "We have to leave things better than the way we found them."
Holding up a 40-pound container of rusty dirt, Schwarzenegger said some of the worst-offending cars can throw that much particulate matter into the air every year.
"This is why we have to get rid of the dirty, polluting cars," he said.
Schwarzenegger's proposal dovetails with similar legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Dave Cogdill, a Modesto Republican whose district includes Calaveras County.
Still in its infancy, Cogdill's plan would focus on the Valley -- home of the nation's foulest air -- and confine the program to gross-polluting vehicles. Cogdill would not raise taxes or fees to fund the program. State registration fees fund the program that Schwarzenegger wants to expand.
Cogdill is toying with offering tax credits or write-offs, but his bill will probably not be ready for debate until next session. Schwarzenegger declined to give an opinion on Cogdill's proposal Wednesday.
The Legislature must agree to spend more on the Consumer Assistance Program before it can take effect, and the state budget is not due until June 30.
Meanwhile, information and applications are available on the Internet at www.smogcheck.ca.gov or by calling the Department of Consumer Affairs at (800) 952-5210.
CA, this is your aledged Republican Governor pandering to GANG-GREEN, once again!!! The massive GovernMental expansion with the Sierra-Nevada CONservancy just wasn't enough to make him GANG-GREEN's Governator. How much more of this crappola are you people gonna just stand there and smile helplessly about?
You call this REFORM???
Yes, even Gray Davis had enough sense to kill this in 2002, like he did the CONservancy! What's wrong with this Arnold? He's not going to win any love from the left with this and it's hurting people financially and the state fiscally!!!
The problem isn't the new vehicles, it's the very old ones that don't have to be inspected.
Bring me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free...
I would have much more respect for Arnold if he proposed removing the 2-3 million illegal immigrants (taxpayer subsidized laborers) from California.
That would go a long way to solving quite a few of our problems.
Irrelevant and immaterial! The smaller amount these old vehicles are driven make their impact insignificant!!! You're just as confused and misinformed as our Governor, sorry!
Personally, I think that these smog checks are an unfunded mandate forced on people. I also think the smog check industry has become a regulated monopoly.
I am not totally opposed to this...maybe I am missing something here...you seam to be little more outraged then usual....fill me in.
"Governor says goal is to remove 15,000 polluting vehicles from road "
Sponsored by GM - Ford - Chrysler...
Would you crush a 57' Chevy? A Deusenberg? A Model A?
However, there should be NO exemption for the 1971 Chevy Rustbucket with no muffler, which burns more oil than gas, chugging down the road leaving a cloud behind it so thick it's a freakin' road hazard in and of itself. A car polluting like this needs to be required to be destroyed or repaired. Sorry your ox is being gored on this one, but your love of historic vehicles can't disguise the fact there are cars on the road which shouldn't be.
I don't think Schwarzenegger ever meant to smash historic cars. We all know the type he is referring to...a $300 car that you buy from Uncle Buddy that has 6-cyclinders, but only four work...the passenger's side is rusting enough that you can see the ground below...and the guy is pouring a can of oil into the car every 150 miles. We all know this guy...and we all laugh about the old car he keeps cause he doesn't want to really want to fix the thing or he is simply out of cash. Having a vehicle...isn't a right...I must agree with. It is a personal decision, and either you stay within the law....or you walk to work.
It just keeps comin', doesn't it? Amazing. :-(
How has he closed the spending gap? He BORROWED the money, strapped us with bonds. Just another phony RINO that the so-called conservatives would run for president if they could. DON'T BLAME ME - I VOTED FOR MCCLINTOCK.
I'm with you, the program was designed to voluntarily help remove polluters, and does so with its financial incentive...they suspended it in 2002 because of lack of funds...of course we all know that smog and people respect our borders and don't cross it...
Does this mean AHHHNOLD is willing to get rid of his Hummer?
Another thread:
Governor wants junk cars off the road
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1364676/posts
Schwarzenegger '08 !!
At it's last DMV smog inspection, it was classified as a 'gross polluter'.
That hurt - I loved that car.
I know nothing about the California smog checks, but I don't see how the grants could kill the classic car show business. Most classic cars in running condition are worth more than $1000, and their owners won't part with them. Sorry, but I'm not going to cry over a mid-80's Plymouth Reliant being turned into scrap. I think the impact to true classics will be virtually nil.
Hey kids, taking the beaters off the road is good for the automobile industry, new and used, which is good for everyone, think about it
I don't know if this is good or bad, but you never see beaters in Europe....then again we saw a cop driving a Porshe as highway patrol in Holland, guess if you are going to catch speeders, eh? then again all the taxis in Holland are Mercedes and BMWS....
and Ontario has this program, which is a rip off, you have to get your car tested every three years for clean air emissions - I thought it was a scam dreamt up by the car mechanics, but apparently they don't make any money off this deal either, the government does though but I had to laugh, major digression, sorry but this is funny - I have married neighbours that were having an affair, going on for years, but they both lost their second beater vehicles, under the clean air emissions program, and they needed their cars to rendezvous for afternoon delight, since their spouses, who worked during the day, needed the good first car,
in Ontario if your car doesn't pass, you either have to repair the car up to a ceiling of $450 (how kind of the gubmint huh) or it is taken off the road, obviously neither car passed and they wouldn't have been worth the repairs, must have put a serious cramp in the lovelife, LOL, God works in mysterious ways....
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