California board votes to weaken emissions regulation

Mercury News ^ | 4/24/03 | AP - Sacramento

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -State air regulators weakened the nation's toughest auto emissions regulation today, favoring cleaner cars over pollution-free vehicles that automakers failed to mass produce.

The California Air Resources Board voted 8-3 to adopt rules promoting technologies that have emerged since its revolutionary 1990 regulation that would have required 10 percent of cars for sale this year be nonpolluting.

[NormsRevenge]

Ping

[glorgau]

The whole thing was unrealistic from the get-go. They are just doing a temporary bow to reality.

[farmfriend]

ping

[mvpel]

My peppy Acura 3.2 TL sedan qualifies as an Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle. Why spend 1000% more money for the last 1/1000 of 1% of emissions? But then, there's politicians involved...

[tubebender]

Let me translate this for you..."Gov Doofus fears that citizens will not buy these expensive boondoggles and sales tax and lucrative vehicle license fees will evaporate because smart people will just drive their old cars forever"...

[farmfriend]

Mine is a '73. Is that old enough?

[farmfriend]

My emissions have blackened the driveway. You can see right where my tail pipe spews onto the pavement.

[Black Agnes]

Is there an 'antique' tag in CA after 25 yrs? Is it free? Inquiring minds/etc...

[farmfriend]

No smog test required for cars that old. Of course they are trying to change that. There is a bill moving through that would require them to be 40 years old.

[Black Agnes]

Ah. Just wondering. In my state if your car is 25+ yrs old you don't have to pay but $25 for the tag. Cheaper. The tag reads 'antique car' on the bottom. I'm waiting to earn that priviledge myself! ;) (for my car. really. I coulda stamped 'antique' on my butt years ago at that rate)

[sheik yerbouty]

I've got a 64 and a 77..

[45Auto]

Perhaps board member Dorene D'Adamo should be forced to drive only one of these worthless electric vehicles. That would take the crap out of her shorts.

[45Auto]

"Gov Doofus fears that citizens will not buy these expensive boondoggles...

That's part of it. The other part is that a number of cities in California were forced to buy these worthless electric nightmares for use by city staff. The city I live in has just sold them all for scrap. They did not perform as expected, were expensive to re-charge (especially since the legislatively-produced power crunch), and generally required a lot of time to use.

[christie]

I live in an area east of the Bay Area. From what I hear, the Bay Area has Smog I regulations. We have Smog II, which is tougher. We have absolutely no polluting industry (except for controlled burning in the farmland). First, they tested our pollution level at a time when there was a wild fire that had been burning for a couple of weeks. And second, the majority of our pollution comes from auto that go back and forth between the Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley/Tahoe. We get punished for the pollution of others. (My '78 Olds passed with flying colors, however.) (I hear the city of Davis volunteered for Smog II).

[boris]

"Roland Hwang of the Natural Resources Defense Council"

What are they 'defending'? Natural resources, of course.

What are they defending against? Using natural resources.

A resource that cannot be exploited is not a resource. This is a tautology.

So what--precisely--is this group trying to accomplish?

Suppose they were to succeed beyond their wildest dreams and prevent all natural resources from being exploited. How many humans would remain alive after, say, a decade of such a utopian existence?

--Boris

[Amerigomag]

Where smog is generated is demographic, where it collects is geographic.

The San Francisco Bay has sufficient registered vehicles to generate significant tailpipe emissions but has a natural ventilation the dilutes the concentration of these emissions.

The Great Valley of California also has sufficient vehicles to generate significant emissions but has a geography the concentrates emissions.

Simply put, bay area emissions drift into and are trapped in the valley. A signifcant percentage of the emissions trapped in the San Joaquin Valley air basin are contributed by the bay area and strenghtening emissions requirements in the bay area will significantly improve air quality in the valley.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[goldstategop]

It took CARB a decade to catch up with the reality of the automobile market place. Oh well better late than never.

[NormsRevenge]

It took CARB a decade to catch up with the reality of the automobile market place. Oh well better late than never.

We need a CARB rebuild. ;-)