Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rep. Curt McCormack, of Burlington, a Democrat who represents the Chittenden 6-3 district in the Vermont House of Representatives.
[P]araphrasing a retired Ford Motor Co. engineer who headed up Ford’s work on emission controls: The only reason the air in American cities is not like the air in Beijing is something called the Clean Air Act. They don’t have such a law in China. Passed by a bipartisan Congress and signed by Richard Nixon, it is the law under which automobile air emission standards are authorized. It has saved more lives than any other federal law or program. Yes, air pollution kills, including in Vermont.
The debate over the difficulty some automobiles are having passing emission control inspections should not be over how many or at what model year they should be exempted from the inspection but rather, how to get those cars fixed. Why? Because exemptions cause more air pollution than one may think.
• An exemption for cars older than 10 years would result in a loss in the total pollution reduction of the program of 64%, virtually wiping out the considerable pollution reduction the program gives us.
• An exemption for cars older than 15 years would result in a loss of pollution reduction of 30%.
In Chittenden County alone, nearly 17,000 adults suffer from asthma and almost 8,000 adults are living with COPD. Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions and other pollutants can cause asthma attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular harm, and even early death. Breathing particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.
With statewide numbers of 102,080 Vermonters living with underlying lung health conditions, including 8,500 kids with pediatric asthma, 60,100 adults with asthma, 33,100 adults with COPD, and 380 with lung cancer – we must do all that we can to ensure that these populations are protected. (Vermont Lung Association)
These emission controls are the result of decades of testing, monitoring (air pollution and health) and market testing – they have been on our cars for a long time. They work. They are the reason our air is so much healthier today than it was when I was growing up.
Old backyard mechanics will remember how difficult is was to keep engines in tune, how often we pulled spark plugs out to clean or replace them, cleaning and re-gaping or replacing the points. If you like having a car with plugs that last 75,000 miles, has no points, gets better gas mileage, always starts and lasts like your old ones never did, you can thank the Clean Air Act. That’s what brought about electronic ignition.
Contrary to the opinion of our illustrious president, the EPA and the Clean Air Act are not our enemies.
Let’s get the cars fixed for those who cannot afford to repair them. At the end of this year we will know how many cars are in the following category: In need of an expensive emission control repair, run out warrantee and are owned by a person of moderate or low income. I say, let’s not just say these cars can go on polluting, let’s get them fixed by volunteers or with vouchers so that the owner does not have to pay for it and we do not unnecessarily pollute our air.
Eighty-five percent of all Vermont cars in the program (1996 and newer) are already passing the emission inspection with no problem. Many we find are unaware of their extended warranties just for emission repairs. Many mechanics have not learned how to deal with the on board diagnostics to figure out whether a repair is needed at all and if one is needed, which one. If they want to inspect cars, they need to know how to do this (such skill is also essential for tuning modern automobiles).
This program does not ask anyone to install anything that the car did not have when it was new. Like the brakes, lights, exhaust system, it just has to work.
If manufacturers had not spent the time, money and energy they did fighting the Clean Air Act, millions of Americans’ early deaths would have been avoided. Our greenhouse gas reductions would have been considerably farther along.
Lets stop bucking reasonable, slowly phased-in programs that do so much for us. We should embrace them and help those who need help returning their cars to good repair.
