Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Wisconsin / March 3, 2007
My briefcase, which was up to about 20 pounds with stuff I meant to read on the bus, got a good cleaning the other day. Goodbye to the year-old essay from the Weekly Standard and expired Motrin and notes for a column published months ago.
My aching shoulder had been bearing the weight of my history.
We all sometimes carry unnecessary baggage. A couple of state lawmakers are wondering whether that might apply to Milwaukee drivers' biennial nuisance, the emissions test.
Right now, taxpayers spend more than $13 million a year on the program. "It's not doing as much for emissions as it should," says state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale).
He and state Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) have an alternate idea. Our air, which has been improving, now meets federal standards for ozone. Gov. Jim Doyle has said he'll ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to certify that. State regulators say this won't change vehicle inspections.
But suppose, say Stone and Plale, the state used the money instead to pay for the planned train from Milwaukee to Kenosha. That's about $10 million a year, says Stone, for new transit that presumably would cut driving. If, like me, you doubt it would cut driving much, at least it would try it with money we're already paying.
State regulators say the testing cuts pollutants by about 13% on hot days. They derive this from a federal computer model of car exhaust.
Others disagree. "Most of the money in these programs is spent testing very clean cars," says Joel Schwartz, who studies emissions for the American Enterprise Institute.
Cars are being made cleaner and usually staying that way, thanks to onboard computers. About 70% of Wisconsin's tests now amount to simply reading a car's computer. That figure is rising, since every vehicle made since 1996 monitors its own exhaust. Nationally, says Schwartz, emissions are dropping about 10% a year through fleet turnover. Stinkers are heading for the scrap yard.
Full story here
Datafever wrote: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Wisconsin / March 3, 2007Air swap could fund new trainMy briefcase, which was up to about 20 pounds with stuff I meant to read on the bus, got a good cleaning the other day. Goodbye to the year-old essay from the Weekly Standard and expired Motrin and notes for a column published months ago. My aching shoulder had been bearing the weight of my history.We all sometimes carry unnecessary baggage. A couple of state lawmakers are wondering whether that might apply to Milwaukee drivers' biennial nuisance, the emissions test. Right now, taxpayers spend more than $13 million a year on the program. "It's not doing as much for emissions as it should," says state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale).He and state Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) have an alternate idea. Our air, which has been improving, now meets federal standards for ozone. Gov. Jim Doyle has said he'll ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to certify that. State regulators say this won't change vehicle inspections.But suppose, say Stone and Plale, the state used the money instead to pay for the planned train from Milwaukee to Kenosha. That's about $10 million a year, says Stone, for new transit that presumably would cut driving. If, like me, you doubt it would cut driving much, at least it would try it with money we're already paying.State regulators say the testing cuts pollutants by about 13% on hot days. They derive this from a federal computer model of car exhaust.Others disagree. "Most of the money in these programs is spent testing very clean cars," says Joel Schwartz, who studies emissions for the American Enterprise Institute. Cars are being made cleaner and usually staying that way, thanks to onboard computers. About 70% of Wisconsin's tests now amount to simply reading a car's computer. That figure is rising, since every vehicle made since 1996 monitors its own exhaust. Nationally, says Schwartz, emissions are dropping about 10% a year through fleet turnover. Stinkers are heading for the scrap yard.Full story here
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That sounds very interesting: if the air standard of quality will not get worse, and funds open up that could go to subsidizing rail, it seems like a case of clean air begetting more clean air, if people can be lured out of their private cars more often.
It stands in sharp distinction to the self-defeating irony of states with large funds available for anti-cigarette programs. How can they be trusted (or even expected) to an all-out quit-smoking push when they depend on tobacco revenues and sales taxes?
As usual, Illinois has worked in the Chicago area (and E. St. Louis area) to construct a kludge of a system that seems just a little bit not-quite-ethical. Emissions testing mandated by EPA and operated by Illinois DOT are quite an old thing. Over the years, though, elements of general vehicle testing have crept in. The last time I had to have my car emissions-checked, I only got a conditional pass--the emissions were fine but the facility objected to the fact that the driver's side door was rocking off the hinges and was very hard to close (not too hard to open). Why is that their business? This is the Chicago area, chum, where things have to be just a little spiky or the won't be allowed to work at all. Political impasse being what it is, I wonder if (in the moderate future) our area can stop the mandatory emissions testing; would that mean that the "jakeleg" safety testing would disappear with it? BTW there are no mandatory vehicle-testing laws in the State of Illinois; never have been to my knowledge.
Be glad you live where you do! -- a.s.
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