There are many forces in the smog war that seem aligned against us poor auto enthusiasts. And many of these would love to force us all to give up our old cars and buy new Detroit iron every two years (isn't THAT a nightmare!!).
Another issue which hasn't been raised here in the smog wars, but which I am very familiar with, is some of the impetus behind the "car crushing" push in California. Much of this is driven by a pernicious change in policy by the governing air pollution agency, which made it possible for industry to buy and sell "smog credits" on the open market. Industry is now able to avoid cleaning up their own act by paying others to crush cars instead.
Used to be, the regulatory agency in charge of air quality would go out to say, the Unocal refinery in Los Angeles, and say to Unocal, "you'd better not show any increase in your emissions from that cracking unit, it's not allowed." Unocal would be prohibited from increasing their emissions, or if they did do something that would lead to an increase they would have to take the necessary steps to clean up their act. This cost Unocal a lot of money, and companies don't like spending money. So the industry lobbyists cried foul, the big bad air police were too harsh on poor little industry, couldn't an alternate scheme be devised?
Enter smog credits, a system the regulators gave to industry to mollify their complaints and to appear "flexible." Industry can now buy and sell these credits on the open market, and use them to meet regulatory agency goals. Want to increase pollution at your plant, legally? Buy some smog credits from some whore who obtained them by crushing up some older "polluting" vehicles. Use the credits to offset your increase in pollution by claiming you have cut emissions in the regions by crushing that nasty car. Everyone, industry and regulatory agency, is happy. And you and I suffer from a diminished supply of used parts, and worst of all, have to live in a world where car crushing is becoming an accepted means of smog reduction. Scary.
This past Friday I attended a manufacturing industry conference here in Arizona (I'm an environmental consultant, not a manufacturer) and saw a presentation by one of the entrepreneurs who is crushing and selling the credits to industry. He enthused how 15% of all vehicles (assumed to be older vehicles) cause 60% of all vehicular pollution, and what a great service he was providing in cleaning up the air and how helpful his selling of credits was to industry. Over 15,000 cars have been crushed already in California! He showed numerous photos of happy idiots who received $500 for their cars (mostly old Detroit iron, but some in cherry condition!), and remarked how it was a win-win situation for all. He suggested that the same system could be set up in Arizona. The room was abuzz with excited industry functionaries seeing an easy solution to their air quality problems. I sank into my chair. None in the room seemed to care that these programs do nothing to help clean up industrial emissions. And the photos of those perfectly restorable old VWs and Corvairs heading for the crusher. I hope the idiots who sold them rot on mass transit for the rest of their miserable lives.
What can we do? Pay attention to what our local air pollution agencies are doing, particularly if they propose to adopt any "California" policies. Rule changes, like what I have outlined regarding setting up a system of smog credits for industry, are subject to public hearings and comments. We don't have any fancy lobbyists doing lunch with the legislators, but we can make noise and be a nuisance, and sometimes this itself can help change things.
There's nothing comfortable bureaucrats hate more than being made uncomfortable.