Washington Emmisions Legisltation

[nancejd]

Well, our state is doing it's best to follow California. We have a bill that passed our house to adopt California emissions standards. It's awaiting a hearing in the Senate on Tuesday. The bill number is 5397, for anybody that lives in Washington and would like to write their senator, and let them know what they think. If you don't know who they are, you can find them here.

http://www1.leg.wa.gov/legislature



I don't know if it's true, but I hear that Oregon is also looking at doing this.

[zbugger]

Welcome to my hell.....

[Fawkes]

James,

Thanks for the heads up on this. I'll pass this along to the car clubs and email lists that I belong to. This state is strict enough as it is, and you know that the thief in the Governer's mansion will sign it.

Todd

[nancejd]

The best thing people can do is contact their legislators and express their opinion.

I would bet that California emissions policy is only liked by a very small minority of it's citizens, but they are vocal and active. In reality, I would think that automotively inclined people are a much larger group, but they are not as vocal or active as the first group. If you don't think you can make a difference, you won't. You have to play the game to have a chance of winning. This really is simple, I wrote my senator and it took less than five minutes. And it works, we recently kept our legislature from adopting the carbon dioxide policy that has California being sued by the automakers.

So in short, tell your friends, send them an email with the text already written, call, etc. Do something before your legislators destroy your hobby.

[MStennes]

James,
Here we go again. I dont know which way you lean politically but here in Eastern Washington we dont like anything that goes on over there. Yes I will call and email all my reps tomorrow. The problem is all the leftest greenies all left Cali and moved to WA so now we have to fight them here. You outta see the crap they have imposed on us over here. We cant hardly even use our own land here its getting ugly here on the river (Methow/Columbia) Let me know if theres more I can do.
Mike

[Kinred]

Thats part of the reason why I left Washington. All the politcal correctness that takes place on the west side of the mountains. I have plenty of other reasons why I left Washington also.


Kinred

[jeffandre]

The reality is that fossil fuels burned in older cars lead to increased levels of pollution in various forms, so while I do agree that ANYTHING that burns voluminous amounts of fossil fuels should be tested, the parts on the vehicle in question should not matter, ONLY WHAT COMES OUT OF THE TAILPIPE! I work for an oil refinery, prior to that a power plant, so I know all too well the realities of combustion processes and the real damage these processes do to the environment.

I say we find a way to get the government to test only the emissions, not the parts we have on our cars. I would bet that most of the better cars have fairly complete combustion and less pollutants than the stock versions of the same cars. Trust me, the whole thing is going to get worse and worse over time, never better, so let's live with it and make it work for us! I would bet that by the time I retire (15-20 years) even the more lenient states will have toughened up considerably. The environment is the future, let's work to be a part of the solution and not stay stuck in the mindset of previous generations...

[nancejd]

What's really interesting is that you can go to the EPAs web site and check what the air quality in your area is at any given moment. The best rating they give is "good", guess where every station Washington is at?

My biggest objection to all of this is that the result of it is irrelevant. So what if a couple of thousand cars are burning cleaner. The total pollution a new car puts out exceeds what my '69 Camaro puts out (esppecially since it is sans engine right now). I just don't drive it anywhere near the same amount of miles. The underhood check is certainly the worst part of the California emissions standards though. If it passes the tailpipe test, then have at it.

What is the actual cost of all of this stuff? I bet you it raises the price of a car. What about the system to administer it? Who actually wants it in the first place? I'm not too worried, I don't think man can destroy the planet, the worst thing he can do is kill himself off, and how bad would that be?

[awr68]

Ok, Im nervous, first Cali, now Wa....I'm in Oregon and getting surrounded!!

[MrQuick]

Remember that Cali is a test bed for the nation...I think NY has had been an emission state also. So its not old news for most. SEMA is taking a stand to change the required testing to tail pipe only for 80 and under. You can have a smog legal (tailpipe wise) car and still run 10's, right Tony?

[WhackyGoat]

I wish I could leave. I can't stand this state. It's beautiful scenery but all the hippies love to ruin the fun! Too many hippies worrying about stupid stuff. They really need to get a life and just lay back and enjoy the possibilities. Being in the military I can't just pack up and move but I guarantee I'll be gone in 2 years when my enlistment's up! It's sad that such a beautiful place can't be fun!