-- [ From: Jim Zim * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] --
People seem to be under the misconception that state emission tests are
about clean air ... they are not. They are about REVENUE, pure and
simple. It works this way: The EPA says your state's air is too dirty
and threatens to take away your state's highway funds if the state does
not do something - and that something is emission testing of cars. Now,
the state does not want to lose that revenue, so they put together the
required test program. However, the people of the state generally do
NOT like these invasive, expensive tests. Now the state doesn't want
its citizens overly mad at them because the people tend to vote them out
of office when they are mad, and the state officials certainly don't
want to lose their cushy jobs and possibly have to actually work for a
living. So they make sure the vast majority of cars will pass the test
by utilizing a test that is nowhere near as stringent as the official
EPA test. That way they keep the EPA bureaucrats off their butts (i.e.
they "answered the mail" and "did something"), and at the same time
don't have too many of their citizens looking to lynch them. Ergo, yank
off all kinds of pollution controls and it'll still pass. Bottom line:
your car passing a state emission test does not mean your car is clean.
However, if there is anything our public education system has taught us
from earliest days in grade school, its that the object of the game is
really to just pass the test and get that piece of paper.
Just a theory ...
:-)
JimZim
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