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25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

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Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#31

Post by Raphmedia »

collyw wrote: post #19

Here in Europe (well UK and Spain whee I have lived and owned a car) you need to get a check every year for older cars, and that includes an emissions test. Don't you get that in the States / Canada? (It would appear that the study was done in Canada). Saying that, go to many less developed country and the cars are far worse condition. My friend always used to claim that the environmental cost of producing a new car…

In Canada (at least, the part I am in), you can get money if you turn in your old cars, if I remember correctly. They also made it that you must have an inspection done before selling/buying a car, and cars that are not road worthy cannot get sold.

People still find a way to drive, buy and sell pieces of scrap.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#32

Post by joshwd »

nikomen wrote: post #23
collyw wrote: post #19

Here in Europe (well UK and Spain whee I have lived and owned a car) you need to get a check every year for older cars, and that includes an emissions test. Don't you get that in the States / Canada? (It would appear that the study was done in Canada). Saying that, go to many less developed country and the cars are far worse condition. My friend always used to claim that the environmental cost of producing a new car…

Emissions tests in the US are at the state level, not federal. For instance, the state of Virginia has emissions tests. However, the state of South Carolina does not require a test.

And even in Virginia, it differs at the county level. You don't need to get your car tested in southwest VA.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#33

Post by theandrewbailey »

nikomen wrote: post #23
collyw wrote: post #19

Here in Europe (well UK and Spain whee I have lived and owned a car) you need to get a check every year for older cars, and that includes an emissions test. Don't you get that in the States / Canada? (It would appear that the study was done in Canada). Saying that, go to many less developed country and the cars are far worse condition. My friend always used to claim that the environmental cost of producing a new car…

Emissions tests in the US are at the state level, not federal. For instance, the state of Virginia has emissions tests. However, the state of South Carolina does not require a test.

In Pennsylvania, emissions tests vary by county. Counties containing or near a major metropolitan area have them. It's likely the same in other states where emissions tests are required somewhere. Allegheny (Pittsburgh) and adjacent counties require it, but Greene (not adjacent, in the southwest corner of PA) does not.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#34

Post by sliverstorm »

collyw wrote: post #19

Here in Europe (well UK and Spain whee I have lived and owned a car) you need to get a check every year for older cars, and that includes an emissions test. Don't you get that in the States / Canada? (It would appear that the study was done in Canada). Saying that, go to many less developed country and the cars are far worse condition. My friend always used to claim that the environmental cost of producing a new car…

In many parts of the States you do, but the strictness of the test varies and the standards are grandfathered.

So, for example, in California (one of the strictest) you must pass a visual inspection, a tailpipe sniffer, and an engine computer scan. There are also many rules about acceptable engine modifications. In other states you may only get an engine computer scan.

As for standards, cars are (rather reasonably) held to the standard they were made to, not the standard of today, and modern cars really are dramatically less polluting than cars from several decades earlier.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#35

Post by nikomen »

joshwd wrote: post #32
nikomen wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Emissions tests in the US are at the state level, not federal. For instance, the state of Virginia has emissions tests. However, the state of South Carolina does not require a test.

And even in Virginia, it differs at the county level. You don't need to get your car tested in southwest VA.

It does seem odd that the state requires safety inspections but doesn't require emissions tests in every jurisdiction.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#36

Post by vonmoltke »

genericuser wrote: post #30
collyw wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we have some proper references rather than the Daily Mail. Its the UK's equivalent of Fox news. They have a pro car owning readership, so any headline like this will be welcome to them

Also even their language is phrased such as it says "16 of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world’s cars" Note the inclusion of the word 'can' before produce. Making this statistic unreliable without further support.

Additionally, it refers specifically to sulfur compounds, not to air pollution in general.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#38

Post by moey »

sliverstorm wrote: post #24
organsnyder wrote: post #18

Living in a state (Michigan) without any sort of vehicle inspections, I can usually spot a vehicle that will be especially bad well before I smell it. If I'm driving, I'll punch the recirculate button to head off the issue, and look at making lane changes (or even varying my route) to avoid vehicles. This doesn't work as well if I'm walking or biking, however. I have asthma, so I'm especially sensitive to this. I'd l…

Why would mandatory smog checks never be politically feasible? They are not just a California-only thing.

Because the Big Three car makers and the National Association of Manufacturers run this state. They said it will "increase costs" and "cost tons of jobs" if a smog law was passed, since they will have to spend more to pass the tests.

Re: 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Automobile Air Pollution

#40

Post by chiph »

nikomen wrote: post #23
collyw wrote: post #19

Here in Europe (well UK and Spain whee I have lived and owned a car) you need to get a check every year for older cars, and that includes an emissions test. Don't you get that in the States / Canada? (It would appear that the study was done in Canada). Saying that, go to many less developed country and the cars are far worse condition. My friend always used to claim that the environmental cost of producing a new car…

Emissions tests in the US are at the state level, not federal. For instance, the state of Virginia has emissions tests. However, the state of South Carolina does not require a test.

And it can vary within the states. Texas only requires emissions testing in the most populous counties (no point in testing cars in Brewster county with less than 1 person per square mile population density). In the counties with testing, new cars get a 2-year emissions exemption, after which they get tested yearly.

Testing is generally done via the OBD-II port, so the vehicle self-reports it's condition. Vehicles without OBD-II and "other" vehicles use a tailpipe probe to report on exhaust gases.

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