1 National Emissions RULE NEEDED.

1/26/09 Las Vegas, NV   

ZAP-it electric car

President Obama is well on his way to making the planet a friendlier place to live, however, allowing individual states to regulate their car emissions is a bad idea.  Our fifty states have shown they can’t handle their own budgets, so why would we want to give them something else to police? SMOG check revenue won’t balance the books.

Several years ago car makers manufactured vehicles for California, Maine, NY, MA or RI  and cars for the rest of the states. They put stickers under the hood proclaiming these models to only be sold and registered in those states.  Invariably a vehicle from a contiguous state would be sold to an unsuspecting customer, by an equally unaware salesperson, and all hell would break loose when the car was ready for registration. Car companies tried to control their inventory by selling these “special emission” vehicles only in those “special emissons” states.  Dealers marketing to border towns complained that they were being discriminated against, so the car companies let the cars flow. It became a logistical nightmare for everyone. Consumers got screwed when the states charged more for a NON-APPROVED EMISSIONS (read: CALIFORNIA ) car to be registered in it’s home state. Customers hated the “special emissions” models, noting poorer fuel economy, thanks to the EXTRA emissions equipment. 

Now I’m all for clean air, lower greenhouse gas emmissions and saving rain forests, but, if you don’t think these extra EPA requirements kill your MPG, ask the DODGE, GMC andFord Diesel owners now suffering with DPF issues that cut power, burn more fuel and have had the exact opposite effect on the environment than was hoped for.

MY suggestion is the country adopt ONE NATIONAL EMMISSIONS STANDARD that California and every other state can live with. A benchmark utilizing technologythat won’t kill our fuel economy and will meet the production capability of our ailing automakers.  As the car companies are pushed to deliver 35 MPG rated models by 2012 including electric cars by 2015, the planet will thank all of us and we will be able to afford to buy these cars because the manufacturers will still be in business and our states will too! 

READ more about Dodge Cummins 6.7l diesel problems at: http://everythingcars.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/dodge-cummins-67l-problemsdodge-cummins-67l-problems/

——————————————————————————————

Sarah Lee writes on all things cars, books, art, food and is a passionate auto industry car consumer advocate. If you want a no hassle deal, go to www.mycarlady.com and learn how a car buyer’s agent can save you thousands of dollars on your next car.