I received this BAD news today regarding smog...

tests...

Thank you for your message regarding Senate Bill 1239 by Senator Ted Gaines. I appreciate hearing from you.

SB 1239 would have expanded the smog check exemption for pre-1976 model year vehicles to include any vehicles manufactured between 1976 and 1981, if the owner can provide proof that the vehicle is insured as a collector car.

As you may know, SB 1239 failed to pass the Senate on June 2. It received only 18 “aye” votes, three votes short of a majority. With the exception of one senator who was out ill, all the senators who opposed or did not vote for the bill are Democrats.

I supported SB 1239 on three separate occasions. I voted for it as a member of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on April 19, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 27 and finally on the Senate Floor on June 2. SB 1239 simply recognizes that most pre-1981 vehicles constitute a very small portion of the overall vehicle population and are well-maintained and infrequently driven. I wholeheartedly agree that it is wrong for the state to continue to scapegoat these vehicles and their owners as a reason for California’s air quality issues.

I believe SB 1239 provides a fair and environmentally sensitive pathway for the “older car” hobbyists to pursue their hobby and should have been approved. If Senator Gaines reintroduces the measure again, it will have my strong support.

Please let me know if I can be of assistance on other state matters in the 36th Senate District (Orange and San Diego counties).

Sincerely,

PATRICIA C. BATES
Senator, 36th District

Just another reason I won't live in California.

sad state of affairs indeed

I have a 97 Tahoe that has fallen into the black hole of yearly (not every 2 years) at a test only smog station at the tune of 80.00. it only has 120k on it and always passes with flying colors. I called the BAR and asked why?? their explanation was my truck was in the gray area 92 to 99 year vehicles that they decided needed to be checked. WTF???
and when I asked how long this will last...he told me until I sell it.
mikemo:hammer:

The beatings will continue

mikemo90 said:

and when I asked how long this will last...he told me until I sell it.
mikemo:hammer:

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The beatings will continue until morale improves.

The sad fact is the government wants to eradicate all driving eventuallly and have us rely on self driving vehicles, which they ultimately control. Any sense of independence or choice we have poses a direct threat to them and thus must be gradually and quietly done away with until they hold all the chips. Don't even get me started on the freedom to live off grid or the land grabs they do if you try to live as such (on your own land outside city/populated limits!) This is just another brick in the wall..... great song btw

self driving cars

what about the car behind you that isn't autonomous?? a car that self brakes and pulls in front of you to close to the car that was in front of you and stops. oh yea your at fault cauz you were too close...(NOT)
mikemo

Actually its about clean air. When we visited and stayed in Guatemala city a ride on their highways makes you appreciate the "strict" smog laws here although itsll easy for me to say as all my fiats arebpre 74...

I dont think the gobernment is gonna make usbdribe autonomous cars just like I know Obama eas never coming for our guns. CA has always been and shall remain the worst place for smog/dmv nightmares. Maybe thats who so many of us move to PDX!

Thanks for saying like it is.

As I watch from Ontario & Canada our liberal government has Greened us into insanity. We pay now the highest price for electricity on the continent. By 2025 they propose that if you own more than 1 car one must be electric. To phase out or ban the burning of natural gas by 2030. You are correct this is about control. I watch the government slowly take private property by regulation, thus putting more and more restriction on the very property that I have improved and paid off, now to become worthless. I say to anyone when you hear the words GREEN or SUSTAINABILITY, put your fingers in your ears and sing LA, LA, LA, LA.

Why is it that the hard working person is saddled with saving the planet while China and other countries can pollute as much as they want and we are to sacrifice.

Sorry for going on a rant here, but I have had enough of this take control over private property crap. Where are our rights? Why have they not been considered.

( Alabama is looking kind of good right now)

Possibly I should be on another form for my words.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

I spent the first part of my life in California living as far south as Palm Springs and as far north as Eureka. Grew up in Riverside and the last nine and a half years totally off the grid in the high desert. I enjoyed all the things Cali had to offer from the mountains to the beaches. Bought my first house in 1976 in Riverside just above Fairmont park. It was a beautiful place when you could see it. The hill above Fairmont was a block away and there were days you couldn't see it because of the smog. California has a lot of rules and regs many of which I thought was a bit over the top but when I moved away in 1989 the smog was coming up hwy 138 from Cajon Pass and I cold see the brown mess cresting the hill at the junction going up to Wrightwood. California is over populated and choking on car emissions so while I feel sorry for antique auto collectors and personally hate big government you have to admit that there has to be something done about the auto emissions. That is one reason I went electric with my X and they don't even have smog checks here.

TonyK, Electricity is free ...

But you have to work it a little ...

Free AC, free hot water, and free electricity. :thumbsup: (with just a slight investment... :grin: )
Oh, and BTW, this is what it looks like when you truly go green. :lol:

Almost...

Thought I had you beat on panels, but no, you have sixteen as well.

I like Texas Laws

Having lived in California for 8 years and then moving to Texas in 2010, I was happily surprised to learn how Texas deals with older cars. This is particular to Travis County aka Austin, Texas as most of less populated counties don't smog check at all.

In Travis County a car over 25 years old is exempt from smog checks and can be registered as a classic with classic plates. There is still a safety inspection, but it is minimal and as long as your car works right and has wipers and a horn you pass. This is great for me as my Fiats are 1985 and 1986 and so are exempt. However, my 1991 Jeep Wrangler was not exempt when I first got here. My Jeep has a Chevy 350 engine swap with a gigantic Edelbrock carburetor and zero emissions stuff on it, so there was no way it would pass. I was able to get an exemption for low mileage vehicle as I don't drive the Jeep very often (it gets 8 mpg), but would have also qualified for an individual vehicle waiver as my Jeep could never pass emissions no matter what was done to it. Of course these waivers all cost money, but the good news is that I was still able to register the Jeep and legally drive it. In California I had to stop driving my Jeep because I couldn't register it. It sat in my carport for almost 5 years. These are some old pics of my cars where you can see my Jeep.

You will need 33 to beat me ...

I have 16 on the East side of the house as well as 16 on the the West side. (10Kw)

Eastep said:

The sad fact is the government wants to eradicate all driving eventuallly and have us rely on self driving vehicles, which they ultimately control. Any sense of independence or choice we have poses a direct threat to them and thus must be gradually and quietly done away with until they hold all the chips. Don't even get me started on the freedom to live off grid or the land grabs they do if you try to live as such (on your own land outside city/populated limits!) This is just another brick in the wall..... great song btw

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The reality is it is not the Government. It is the insurance companies that want error free driverless cars, they are the ones with lobbyists pushing that agenda.

Having lived in California and seeing the number of classic cars still being daily driven, of which I was one, I can understand continuing to control the existing emissions systems on cars that had them. Bad pollution days in the LA Basin are horrendous and anything that can be done to reduce them is in my mind worth doing.

Secondly, given how few people understand or choose to learn about the systems on their cars, most of the very beneficial systems that have no performance impact would also be stripped out. We see it here on XWeb all the time as people rip out the evaporative emissions parts. Given that cars in general are parked the majority of the hours in the day those emissions are significant.

bbrown said:

I have 16 on the East side of the house as well as 16 on the the West side. (10Kw)

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Yes but did you cut the cord...

Knowing you, you likely run a surplus and it is actually paying you.:thumbsup: nice system, we never see that in Michigan, but in New England all the time.

Karl, in NH they have Net metering

Basically, it's a balance...
They supply X, you supply Y
If X > Y, you pay the balance.
If Y > X, they give you CREDIT.

The nice part of that is you can accumulate an unlimited (today) amount of power.
I put up a 10Kw system and my usage averages about 6.5Kw, so I'll have plenty left over for Air Conditioning and an unknown amount left for heat. I'll be gauging that this fall.

Already got next month's usage in queue. :excited:

smog

not to put a holy halo on here, god knows we make a big footprint in the smog problem but has any read that a significant amount of what we have here flow on the trade winds from china??? how about large fans on all the beaches going to a solar powered cat converter.
crap... better put down the pipe:nuts:
mikemo

mikemo90 said:

not to put a holy halo on here, god knows we make a big footprint in the smog problem but has any read that a significant amount of what we have here flow on the trade winds from china??? how about large fans on all the beaches going to a solar powered cat converter.
crap... better put down the pipe:nuts:
mikemo

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Maybe some of it can be blamed in China now but I am sure they had little to do with it in the 60's. In the sixties the smog was just as bad or worse. If I still lived in California I too would be upset about the bill not going through. Anyone remember in the early 70's the vacuum cut off valve the was mandated that all cars had to have one installed? It was a device the was installed by splicing it into the radiator hose and was supposed to control the vacuum to the distributor as the water heated up. If you didn't have one you could be fined. I had a 56 Chevy pickup with a 283 that would pass the emission test at that time but because it didn't have that little green plastic piece of junk, I was an outlaw and was always on the look out for the CHP traffic checks for a little over a year until it was decided by the all knowing who ever's that the device didn't make any difference. However while it was mandatory to have the valve installed someone made a good profit selling the things.