http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/coal-rolling-is-juvenile-and-illegal ‘Coal rolling’ is juvenile and illegal April 20, 2016 Claudette Konola
Have you seen the big diesel trucks that blow a cloud of thick black smoke? They don’t need a tune-up; they need a grown-up owner. These vehicles have been deliberately modified, at costs ranging from $200 to $5,000, for the sole purpose of irritating environmentalists. Some have installed dash board switches and gleaming smoke stacks so that they can smoke out hybrid and electric car owners, bicyclists, and pedestrians — especially if those pedestrians are carrying protest signs. The modifications disable the programming that causes vehicles to burn clean. Sometimes the particulate filter is removed. After modification, engines burn fuel inefficiently, reducing mileage and increasing fuel costs for the vehicle. They also pollute the air, making it hard to breathe and decreasing the visibility of nearby vehicles. What adult thinks it is a good idea to deliberately pollute the air of a community, endanger the lung development of young children, create a safety hazard, and increase the costs of operating a vehicle? It is behavior that is selfish, self-defeating, anti-social, juvenile and illegal. When asked about the practice of coal rolling, an EPA spokesperson said, “the short answer is this is illegal.” The EPA doesn’t have the manpower to police every vehicle on the roads, so they are limited to working with manufacturers to design tamper-proof emission control systems and eliminate the manufacture of defeat devices. A defeat device is any product that disables emission controls. Because the EPA’s focus is on manufacturing, they are unable to respond to individuals installing defeat devices. States are responding with laws to fine individuals. Illinois was the first state to introduce anti-coal-rolling legislation. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a prohibition on retrofitting diesels with coal rolling defeat devices. The prohibition was accompanied by fines. The New Jersey bill was introduced by a legislator irritated after a coal roller blasted him and his Nissan Leaf, temporarily blinding him. Rep. Dan Thurlow has been blinded also. His most recent newsletter discussed a bill to impose fines in Colorado for coal rolling. The bill originally called for 10 to 90 days in jail or $150 to $300 in fines. It was amended in committee, reducing the penalty to a $35 fine. The bill was postponed indefinitely, with an almost unanimous vote. Democrats were unsatisfied with the diminished penalties, and Republicans don’t like any new regulations. Dan Thurlow said, “I had never heard of this until I read this bill. I guess, to me, it seems like too much government. If this is really a problem in some communities, it seems like the communities could address it without another state law, creating another crime.” Thurlow is almost right. We don’t need a new law; we just need enforcement of the existing law. In 1971, automobile manufacturers were required to install catalytic converters in order to reduce the emission of hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. In 1990, the EPA was empowered to enforce the federal standards. Along Colorado’s Front Range, the enforcement comes with vehicle inspections. Mesa County doesn’t require vehicle inspections, but it could be in our future. If our air quality continues to deteriorate, the EPA will force us to implement vehicle inspections and other air quality measures. Vehicle emissions are not the only contributor to bad air quality in our valley, although they are a major factor. Other contributors are dust, smoke from open burning, wood smoke and fires. All contribute to microscopic solids or liquid droplets which, when introduced to our lungs, can cause coughing or difficulty breathing, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, aggravated allergies, chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, and premature death in people with heart or lung disease ... Breathers want enforcement of bans on defeat devices and reconsideration of open burning. It’s the adult thing to do. [© 2016 Grand Junction Media] ... [dated] http://ecowatch.com/2014/07/18/colbert-rolling-coal/ Colbert Pokes Fun at ‘Rolling Coal,’ the Insecure Trucker Driver’s Response to Environmentalists (v) Jul 18, 2014 - If you're the type of person others would consider an environmentalist or you just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, you might ... ... [video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIfdOxBQtTc "Rolling Coal" Might Be The Stupidest Trend This Millenium ThinkTank Jul 10, 2014 "Rolling coal," or pollution porn as some would call it, is an all-too-real form of conspicuous consumption allowing truck drivers to send a burst of black pollution into the air on a moment's whim. It's a favorite trend of conservatives, haters, and EPA antagonists alike who don't believe in climate change ... ] ... https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22Coal+rolling%22+electric Search on "Coal rolling" electric For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Coal-rolling-EVs-is-illegal-anti-social-juvenile-the-EPA-doesn-t-enforce-fed-standards-tp4681682.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
