Posted by
Average Voter on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 7:44:59 PM
The federal court in Vermont gave the state the power to regulate their own tailpipe emissions.
It's too bad that GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, etc. couldn't just tell them "Well, we can't do that, so your citizens will have to find some other means of transportation. Maybe you should get started on that light-rail system or start your own car company for that matter." Bet that would change their tune in a hurry.
It's smart business for Vermont, California and the politicians that run those states. They are basically telling the auto makers how to run their business, forcing them to meet the needs of what amounts too nothing more than unclear science and agenda driven politics. If they can get a few states to provide different standards, then they force the industry to make one type of emission system that would comply with all the state regulations. Obviously it would simply be too expensive for the auto makers to make different types of emission compliant systems to meet each states laws.
But there is another problem, namely who is going to pay for the R & D to make this new system. Guessed yet? You and Me. And the good thing for California and Vermont and whoever else jumps on this bandwagon will benefit, because the cost will be spread among the entire country on every car, not just those sold in Vermont.
It would be interesting though if they found a way to curb the emissions to meet their standards and involved a simple add-on system that only those states would be charged for. I could live with that because I don't really want to have to pay for their standards.
Just wishful thinking on my part though.
We need to clean up our cars, but the car companies could be our partners in trying to clean up instead of our enemies. Who do you think is going to come up with the technology to build hydrogen fueled cars? Who are going to be the companies that build these vehicles? Sure, there will be some startups, but who will be the ones that drive the knowledge and the sales? GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, etc.
The environmentalists in government and citizens of the county need to be careful. We could do more damage than good when it comes to forcing business to comply with our thinking. It's good to implement emission standards, but let's keep them equal across the board. If a state has to have better standards, let them use their resources to improve on the vehicle. Make that state responsible for the cleaner emissions.