Re: alfa-digest V9 #294

[Stacy Faught <slfaught@domain.elided>]

> Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 22:48:13 -0500
> From: Eric Storhok <alfa@domain.elided>
> Subject: mods, standards, and emissions...
-snip-

> Finally, that 45 year thing in California-if I'm not mistaken, that is 
> unconstitutional-it's a retroactive law.  What is that latin term for 
> that??  This one is absolute BS, even though a car prior to 68 may put 
> out 1000 time more emissions than the state of the art PZEV vehicle for 
> sale in California, I'm reasonably sure that there are so few of these 
> cars actually contributing to the problem that they should not be 
> attacked.  30 years is reasonable.  This after ranting about passing the 
> current standard.  Shows that its more about politics than science.
Excellent point, however even if it is unconstitutional it must be 
challenged
by some poor sop who has just gone through the hell of emissions testing 
and failed, and who has the time, money, and motivation to hire a lawyer 
and fight
the state judicial system, which is by nature biased to the people who 
helped
put them on the bench...with appeals, ect...it would end up going to the CA
supreme court and only *then* (after 3-5 years and lots of $$$$) ruled 
unconstitutional and removed from the books.  In other words, if it passes, 
it
will probably be a permanant law, as unconstitutional as it may be.

Mabye I'm being cynical, but a few years back when I lived in michigan, I 
remember
very clearly a man having to appeal a case to the supreme court---his crime
was swearing in the vicinity of a woman, after he had fallen out of a boat 
(the
falling out of the boat was not the crime---just the swearing *grin*).  
While
I agree that this may have been a very rude thing to do, it was hardly a 
crime--
but yet the guy had to fight all the way to the top of the state to get his
conviction from an outdated 19th century law overturned.  I believe the law 
is
actually still on the books too, after all of that....mabye someone who 
still
lives in that state can enlighten (or mabye not...getting off-topic 
here...)

To get to my point---please please please (especially to all the CA 
digesters)
get out and vote at every election, even the local ones, and keep these 
morons out of office so we don't have to deal with these ridiculous laws.  
It is no
coincidence that an alarming number of the people involved in making and 
enforcing these laws have substantial financial interest in seeing that we 
all
buy new cars.  If I recall, the main technical guru on the CARB board is 
also
the owner of an engineering consulting firm that focuses on alternative 
fuels
for vehicles.  I'm not saying alternative fuels are a bad thing---quite the 
opposite---but
in this situation mabye the tail is wagging the dog?  Mabye I'm clueless or
just young and stupid, but I'd think that our time and money would be 
better
spent on making our public transportation less polluting (been behind a bus 
lately???),
same goes with local trucks (garbage trucks, dumptrucks, heavy construction
machinery, ect..), and cleaner ways to create power than COAL....
Then again, I'm probably preaching the choir here...just remember to 
vote...
especially on the local level, where a dozen votes can decide who gets in 
or not.

Done ranting...
:)
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