CARB

The CARB (California Air Resources Board) website is down right now, but the internet chatter confirms that CARB today approved the most sweeping regulation on diesel truck particulate and NOx emissions in state history...and will prove to be the most expensive regulation as well. I'm thrilled.

The line from the American Truckers Association is that this is going to bankrupt many truckers. Well...good. Those that do make it through the regulations (read: most of them) will come through with cleaner trucks. As they all have to retrofit, all will stand to pass on these costs. If several go bankrupt, well, that's the price to pay for better air. I've got not one shred of sympathy.

I saw almost a dozen cars today with expired tags and the DMV "12" on the window. Most of these cars failed emissions tests. It costs to prevent emissions. Period. It always has. If these cars can't pass SMOG then they are [eventually] removed from the road...and the drivers be damned. We wouldn't exempt a driver of a gross polluter just because he's bankrupt, would we?

This is a bullshit argument and they know it...but they need to tow the line. The whole bankrupt thing. Detroit said the same thing about catalytic converters; the single most effective piece of emissions control equipment ever, and when introduced it was going to bankrupt Detroit. It didn't happen, and today they're perfectly capable of bankrupting themselves with or without catalytic converters.

The next argument, we're going to hear over and over and over in the coming months and years from every sector -- "given the dire state of the economy, we should not be expected to comply at this time."