The following message was sent to the Lotus listserver. I do not know
whether or not it is true. Could some New Jersey resident verify the
accuracy of the following message. If it is true, it does not bode well
for LBC owners in New Jersey.
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New Jersey's New Emissions Testing Program Will Revoke Over 1 Million
Car Registrations
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Will It Affect YOU?
Public outrage in 1995 over the quietly passed new enhanced emissions
law, SCS-1700, temporarily halted its enforcement. Republicans feared
widespread backlash over legislation they wrote and unanimously voted
for; Governor Whitman feared losing her reelection; and Democrats upheld
a back room political deal to keep their mouths shut. However, during
the entire time the public has been falsely led to believe that the new
emissions program was dead, the state has been working nonstop to put it
in place - going to bid the week after the 1997 elections, and recently
signing a $559 million dollar private contract to start construction
using your tax dollars.
Since its original controversy, virtually every worst aspect of
this
new emissions law, publicly dubbed the "Vehicle Confiscation Law," has
been confirmed. DMV Director Kamin acknowledged that the tough new test
would likely fail a large number of vehicles, but promised that DMV
would not allow that percentage to "exceed 30%." After the state
vigorously denied they would enforce the legislation's written
requirement to revoke the registration of any vehicle failing the test,
Kamin acknowledged that automatic revocations would definitely occur.
Said DMV Director Kamin during an open meeting of the Society of
Automotive Engineers, "What will be different about our system now is
that there will be registration denial."
The claim in 1995 that drivers would pay $24 for the new
inspection
procedure caused your legislators, DMV, and the Governor to all
vehemently deny any such new fee, yet details of their recently signed
construction contract proves that the new cost will actually be $24.25 -
with state allowed fee increases every single year. DMV also denied any
plans to construct roadside sensors to remotely monitor car emissions as
you drive by. They were later forced to admit that such a project was
underway, but promised motorists that any summonses issued would be to
require re-inspections only. Public outrage in 1995 after the
Department of Environmental Protection simultaneously wrote legislation
to allow police to access your private property without a warrant and
seize any emissions failed vehicle for a $200 bounty caused them to back
down and repeal that specific section of their law. It was just an
innocent "typographical error," so explained state officials and DEP.
Fraud, Greed, Politics, Power, Arrogance, & Corruption
Dramatic improvements in emissions controls over the past 20 years have
made most new motor vehicles over 98% pollution free, and have virtually
eliminated the need for more intensive emissions testing. Within 5 to
10 years, the highest polluting older vehicles will be out of service.
In fact, both DMV Director Kamin and DEP Commissioner Shinn are on the
record stating that even removing every motor vehicle from N.J. roads
would not improve our air quality at all, since most pollutants travel
to us from Western states. But with state politicians writing the
highest spending budget in New Jersey history, spending an astounding
$68 of taxpayers' money per day, why worry about wasting another $559
million?
Although publicly defending their legislation as beneficial, our
politicians actually authorized spending millions of dollars on
billboards and handouts covering their own ass - telling waiting
otorists at the new inspection stations that they were not responsible
for an emissions program which would be, in their own words, "expensive
and burdensome on the citizens of the State." Emerging details of the
state's new construction contract shows them expanding their
disinformation campaign and blatant lies on an even larger scale - with
an additional $6.2 million in public relations and promotional fees paid
to a private company run by Governor Whitman's former spokesman.
Incredibly, even more millions of your tax money will be wasted in order
to con N.J. drivers into thinking the new emissions program will not
harm them.
From the very beginning, this issue has been one involving
insider
politics in the pursuit of your tax money, and nothing to do with air
quality. Early on, business interests pushing for an expensive new
emissions program paid $500,000 to Governor Whitman's former business
partner, confidant, and campaign manager, Hazel Gluck, in order to
grease the legislative process and twist arms. In addition to buying a
direct line to Governor Whitman, Gluck also happened to serve as the
official lobbyist for the New Jersey Press Association - a key
connection many observers credit for helping the state muzzle the
press.
With her reelection now safely past, Governor Whitman has
decided to
award this $559 million contract to Parsons Technology, the one and only
company to submit a bid; this after a previous sole bid in 1997 was
refused. Even more curious, Governor Whitman's treasurer has decided to
suspend the normally required legislative review process, and rush this
contract through without debate. Naturally, the Whitman administration
argues that over $95,000 in 1997 contributions paid to Republican
legislators, and the hiring of key GOP insiders had nothing to do with
Parsons winning what, in any other business, would be called a rigged
bid. Further illustrating their interest to support their political
contributors, N.J. legislators have even ignored a pending $65 million
lawsuit brought by the city of Los Angeles against Parsons for
fraudulent billing practices.
While the true inside story of this new emissions program is
purely
about politics and greed, ultimately it will prove devastating to those
individuals who will lose the use of their car. Remember, this
legislation is aimed at taking your car off the road! It is about
forcing you into mass transportation. Like the failed HOV lanes, it
will produce no reduction in air pollution whatsoever, and serves no
other purpose but, as one EPA administrator termed it, "To get people
out of their cars."
Still don't believe what they are planning to do to you? Just
remember
DMV Director Kamin's own characterization of SCS-1700 when he stated in
a public forum, "To put it in my assessment of it - only in America
could a program like this be designed, 'cause they used to come up with
ideas like this in the Soviet Union." With the media still censoring
the worst details of this new program, the only way to learn the truth
is to get it for yourself. Call Legislative Services at 800-792-8630
and ask for a free copy of SCS-1700. Ask for your legislator's phone
number and demand the repeal of this horrendous legislation. Contact
the NJ Legislative homepage online at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/html98/members.htm
Call the NJFN hotline number - (908)-277-1028, and listen yourself to
Kamin's own statements. Most importantly, spread the word. Copy and
distribute this message everywhere. Warn your friends. Forward this
E-mail to 10 or more contacts today! This legislation represents a $1
billion dollar loss in private property value, and the unnecessary waste
of over $1/2 billion of your hard earned taxes.
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