Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 12/12/2008 6:15:55 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California on Friday became the first state in the country to force big diesel trucks to clean up their exhaust, despite warnings from truckers the new rules will force them out of business.
About a million vehicles, from big rigs to school buses, are affected by the new rules, which will begin taking effect in 2011 and do not require further ratification.
Some vehicles will have to start retrofitting engines in 2011 and some older trucks will be forced into retirement starting in 2012. By 2023, all trucks must meet 2010 new engine emission standards.
The rules regulate smog-causing oxides of nitrogen, which are greenhouse gases, and particulate matter, which is toxic. The California Air Resources Board estimated the regulations would cost about $5.5 billion. It put the health benefits of cleaner air at $48 billion to $69 billion over the next couple of decades.
The move by California, the leading U.S. state on climate change, complements a detailed strategy to cut carbon emissions that the board passed on Thursday as part of its sweeping plan to cut carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
While the federal government has no such rules for trucks or carbon, President-elect Barack Obama has said that climate change will be a priority when he takes office in January.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Big diesel trucks should just avoid California. If you don’t go there, you don’t have to live with the rules and the people who made the rules will either starve in the dark or move to where the food is and STFU.
This will take place from the railhead at Sparks Nevada to various points in California.
This is exactly what happened when California drove the direct mail advertising business out of the state.
Interesting.
Trade them to canada for alberta, saskatchewan, vancouver island, yukon, and mackenzie. NOt british columbia though. I don’t like them.
When you say “automobile”, are you meaning pickup trucks and U-hauls? Or station wagons and minivans?
Ya know there’s not a law on the books I know of that says trucks must deliver any goods to California unless they are under a state, federal, or private contract to do so. Otherwise the trucks may go where they please and take loads they please elsewhere. Meaning let the rigs stay out and see how quick it’s lawmakers fall to their knees. The time frame of their surrender would be measured in hours.
They start out as automobiles. But you know those crazy Mexicans over there in Bell ~ they’ll take their cutters and turn ‘em into light trucks. Now that’s going to take boosting the suspension a bit, but that’s a trivial problem for guys doing low riders.
We better figure that out, because this state is going to drag this country down with it.
yeah. You mean those minivans that have been converted into pickups. I’ve seen them. Those are unibody vehicles with the roof cut off...a disaster waiting to happen.
I’m absolutely tired of them screwing up Colorado.
Colorado use to be a nice state.
That was before California craziness spread east.
They may lead on junk science about climate change, but that's about it.
Only one state was as bad at that time and I think for some reason it was Vermont. They closed the roads including interstate to trucks on Sunday. I have yet to figure out how they got by doing that one.
Unibody.
Plywood floors.
Guys riding shotgun protecting valuable cargos of 53" HDTVs.
But the evil diesel engines will be gone and all the illegal aliens will have jobs!
Mexican trucks will be exempt.. thus have all the business...
Fox news was going down the list of California expenditures this afternoon, one that popped out at me was $117 million a year for illegal immigrants to attend college in CA.
they can vote anything they want but... it might take awhile.
Corning Inc. lays off 43 local workers
ERWIN, N.Y. – Forty-three workers at these Corning plants in the town of Erwin are out of a job. The local union president says he and his members fear they’re not going to be the only ones.
“Will it get worse? How much worse will it get? How long will it be before the economy at least finally hits the bottom so we can start to hope to see it pick up? And right now it just feels more like a freefall,” said Michael Walker, Local 1000 President.
Corning has recently announced plans to scale back to weather the struggling economy. Those plans have included staff reductions. But for the most part, they’ve been in other states and countries. Now the layoffs are hitting home.
“We have seen before where here in the Valley, we’re going really strong, yet some of the branch plants are being hurt because their particular part of the economy is being affected. But what’s really different with this is looks like all sectors of the economy are going to be impacted by it,” Walker said.
Corning’s Diesel and Erwin plants make parts for diesel engines and the union president says their fate is somewhat tied to that of the ailing automotive industry. Corning officials say the economy is affecting the diesel and other businesses. The union president says the company has been handling the situation as well as can be expected.
“Corning’s been very good about communicating with us the best they can. And they don’t like to pull that trigger any quicker than they have to. But they have also shared their concern about how soft the businesses are,” said Walker.
In a statement, Corning officials say they don’t have any other layoffs to announce. But they said, “We continue to closely monitoring this situation and will make the necessary business decisions to maintain profitability and meet our customer needs.”
At a technology conference Wednesday, Corning’s chief financial officer told attendees the company could make more layoffs or reductions to adjust to a lower sales rate. He said Corning would announce any decisions with fourth quarter earnings next month.
“That should be fun to watch, when shelves go bare because there aren’t enough trucks to get product there”
Sounds like a perfect “John Galt moment”....
Will the truckers lay down their burdens and shrug?
- John
This is a gross underestimate. Probably by a factor of 10.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.