Re: [T3] For whom the bell tolls...

[Steven Ayres <comwest@well.com>]

Tom=> Just what we need...More government in our lives.

I sympathise with the sentiment, but let's properly identify the bad 
guys here. I'm the SEMA contact for northern AZ, and I've been following 
these fights in the West for several years. As Scott has already pointed 
out, the scrappage idea is the  creature of the big polluters -- the 
fossil-fuel and power-generation companies. With voters so willing to 
stay out of the game, these companies have the political clout to bend 
the regulatory agencies to their will. The various scrappage schemes 
usually provide them with clean-air credits in return for the small 
investment involved in buying up and destroying impounded and 
inspection-failed cars. This way they can put off cleaning up their own 
operations. Old cars are an easy target because for many years automaker 
marketing has been spreading the idea that younger cars are a lot 
cleaner.
 
Careful research shows that this ain't necessarily so. With proper 
tuning and good maintenance, a vintage engine is almost as clean as a 
new one in most respects -- the gains over the years due to design have 
been more related to fuel efficiency than tailpipe emissions. And a 
poorly maintained engine produces a lot of airborne crap no matter how 
old it is. A second important point is to be aware of the tradeoff 
between the environmental costs of a continuously operating older car vs 
those of producing a new car to fulfill the need created by its loss. 
The polluters can always count on additional support from the auto 
industry, since fewer old cars on the road means more new cars on the 
road, at least in theory.

Arizona car enthusiasts have been able to help beat back two waves of 
scrappage legislation using legislator communications and voter 
education. But Arizona is not an oil-producing state, as is California, 
so the producers have less clout here, and Arizonans generally have a 
built-in suspicion of anything that smacks of government intrusion. 

Write, call and fax your legislators, and encourage your fellow 
enthusiasts to do so. Getting involved and saying your piece *works*.

Steven Ayres, Prescott AZ
'66 KGhia 1600 

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