Posted on 04/18/2010 6:53:47 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
The U.S. government passed new emissions standards that required new diesel-powered cars and trucks to use the filters. New York state government helped Corning build the new plant. Then, the state passed its own emissions law that forces owners of old diesel vehicles used on state contracts to install the filters — an upgrade that could cost as much as $30,000 each....
With eight months to go, there is also no coordinated effort to retrofit the state’s own fleet. The DEC cannot say how many trucks have been done. The Division of Budget does not have a cost estimate. Each agency is doing its own thing.
Almost 3,000 Department of Transportation vehicles fell under the new law.
The agency will have to finish retrofitting 883 vehicles before the end of the year. It could cost anywhere from $1.5 million to $26 million, a spokeswoman said.
Other state agencies are waiting to see what the state Legislature does next before spending thousands of dollars on old trucks and buses.
(Excerpt) Read more at syracuse.com ...
Diesel emissions are nasty, and I think a lot could be done to clean them up. But putting a mandate with this kind of price tag will just flush jobs down the toilet. Governments are incapable of using common sense or steering clear of corruption. The less involvement they have, the better.
All 12,800 New Yorkers diagnosed with lung cancer used water. Did the water cause the lung cancer?
Perhaps the New York Legislature should make idiocy a crime and then install bars and locked doors on the capitol building.
Upstate NY bump
This ex-pat New Yorker (and Corning resident to boot) left that hell hole 16 years ago and has never looked back. All I have met since leaving NY has been personal and business success.
1 Iceland Volcano eruption = infinite diesel engine’s exhaust
Yep, tell when they tax the volcano, then and only then, can they tax the little emitter.
“Oh, and did anyone think about the effect adding $8,000 to the cost of a more fuel-efficient vehicle (ie, turbo-diesel) would have on the overall economy? One reason we don’t have small diesel engines as an option on American vehicles is stupid environmental laws. Here’s another one!”
The Smart Car available anywhere else in the world but here is powered by a 750CC turbodiesel and gets well over 60 MPG. Here, it’s crippled and a Prius gets better gas mileage. Your Gooberment at work.
Send a “message” to Washington. Fire them ALL.
In summary, as I understand it, it cost a lot of money in research and the process that was found to work to make a reliable and effective filter requires some very special and expensive manufacturing techniques.
That said, my personal opinion is that modern life requires a well thought out balance with necessary compromises between many different factors. Factors such as environmental concerns have to be considered with economic impact.
It's nice to want cleaner air, but the standards (levels of emissions) have to be well-thought out with the total end result in mind (is this going to make sense economically, is having cleaner air with more people out of work a worthwhile trade off, etc.).
I see it more that the politicians make the rules, the companies know this, and keep their ear to the ground in trying to predict upcoming legal requirements and thereby throw their money into research into new products that will be required by the new legislation.
As per the above referenced article, Corning still spent 30 million dollars in less than a year to develop the technology for making the filters. Their scientists did what they had to do to develop a marketable product.
On our end of things - not being law-makers or research scientists, etc. - we can only try to be heard to demand that the legislators make intelligent choices that reflect all the real world practical considerations involved in any proposed law.
ping
Can’t dig mines, can’t drill new oil or gas wells, can’t put up smelters, can build new gasoline refineries, can’t harvest wood, can’t disturb swamps or bogs (wetlands), can’t farm, can’t commercially fish, can’t put up shopping centers (without some union’s permission), can’t drive a vehicle without the EPA’s or DEC’s permission, can’t paint, can’t dig a hole, can’t burn rubbish. Can’t throw out scrap building materials.
This government interference for the whims of environmentalists (pronounced commies as green is the new red) has got to stop.
There won’t be a farm or business left in NYS and there won’t be any tax paying citizens left either.
You better have an EPA/CARB approved engine on that lawnmower...seriously.
Who would you trade it to? The value will go through the floor, cause whoever buys it will have to include the retrofit in their valuations. If this doesn't end up being some kind of nationwide EPA mandate there will be a possibility of selling out of state. I can see some enterprising businessmen paying pennies on the dollar then transporting the diesels out of state and selling them at retail, but inside the state, the diesels will be worth squat.
Government creates a fake market by mandating we buy something; then spends taxpayer money to build a plant to provide it. Politicians show up to brag about all the new jobs they've created.
No one's around, though, when businesses shut down or move away because the mandates made them unprofitable.
And if they had a half a brain they’ll stay out of Calipornia where the Cargo Cult Liberals are in charge.
The agency will have to finish retrofitting 883 vehicles before the end of the year.
It could cost anywhere from $1.5 million to $26 million, a spokeswoman said.
Another Math Expert that works for the Gubmint. Which is is butt head?
Come on, pick a number, it's not that hard:
;-)
Just one more way to crash the economy. What the he** is the US going to do if most of it’s trucks are sidelined in a few months? The government has gone bat sh** crazy and we are going to have to stop it.
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