MichaelH Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/arti.../MN8U14N2IV.DTL One million diesel-exhaust-spewing big rigs on California's roads face the nation's strictest emissions restrictions under rules adopted Friday by the state air board, a move that officials say is needed to save thousands of lives but that some truck drivers fear will put them out of business. <snip> Air board officials estimate the changes will cost the trucking industry $5.5 billion, causing some truckers to plead for financial assistance. They said they will offer truck owners $1 billion in help. <snip> Air board officials estimate that the rule will save the lives of 9,400 people between 2011 and 2025. A related study by UC Berkeley and Harvard researchers concluded that truck drivers and dockworkers who breathe diesel soot on the job have higher rates of lung cancer and death than other workers. The discussion is interesting reading. There's a clear divide between people who think rationally and those who think emotionally. The rational people point out this will: 1. Raise prices. 2. Encourage companies to use trucks and drivers from Mexico. 3. Discourage out-of-state companies from shipping to California. 4. Put struggling owner-operators out of business in the middle of a recession. 5. Make it harder to do business in California. The emotional people say things like: 1. I hate it when I pull up next to a truck and I can smell the exhaust. 2. Why don't they just use electric big rigs? 3. I'll gladly pay a few cents more for a gallon of milk to save the environment. 4. Sure this may make stuff more expensive, but health care will be socialized by then anyway. Everything that is on a shelf or table is delivered by big rig. The emotionalists don't seem to realize they are talking about putting people out of work and making it harder for everyone to buy anything. I'd like to add a side note regarding the lung cancer issue. My spouse worked in the shipping industry for several years. A high percentage of dock workers and truck drivers were smokers. That's a much more direct explanation for higher rates of lung cancer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletch Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 The immediate impact of this law will be to make everything in California more expensive, and more scarce. Large companies like UPS or Fedex will pay the $12,000 per truck cost, but the cost of shipping anything to, from, or within the state of California will dramatically rise in price. Chances are, most trucking companies will simply cease doing business in California altogether. Regional LTL firms will have to make a choice, and may only retro-fit certain trucks, thus limiting the number of trucks available to service California. The biggest problem they will face is getting goods from across country. Good luck finding an independent trucker to haul a load of goods from, say, Ohio to California. He will be able to take them to the boarder, but no further since he is unlikely to have installed this new device. California is a big and important state, but there are 49 others that dont require this new "life saving" device. And speaking of that, "Air board officials estimate that the rule will save the lives of 9,400 people between 2011 and 2025." That works out to 671.14 lives saved per year. Dont you love it how they know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllMenAreIslands Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I wonder how many thousands will die when they stop shipping all sorts of goods to the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 They probably won't die. They'll just find it impossible to get work and leave. And then vote for the same bullshit in another state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 If I owned a trucking company, I would cease operations in Californa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gags Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 And then vote for the same bullshit in another state. That's right, the people of California are getting exactly what they voted for. I hope they enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD26 Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 That's right, the people of California are getting exactly what they voted for. I hope they enjoy it. Isn't Arizona starting to develop similar programs as California? It's always for "the public good". More control at the top, slaves at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McVey Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 That's right, the people of California are getting exactly what they voted for. I hope they enjoy it. I suspect that at root they know exactly what they're doing and do expect to enjoy it - to make it an expensive place to live in, so all the merely middle class are compelled to leave, taking their factories with them, leaving behind the wealthy liberals to enjoy the California weather etc and low-skilled immigrants to do the house, farm and vineyard labour. JJM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gags Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 I suspect that at root they know exactly what they're doing and do expect to enjoy it - to make it an expensive place to live in, so all the merely middle class are compelled to leave, taking their factories with them, leaving behind the wealthy liberals to enjoy the California weather etc and low-skilled immigrants to do the house, farm and vineyard labour. JJM I'm afraid that's where the state is headed. It used to be a major engine of economic growth in this country. Now it has become a prohibitively expensive place to do business with fewer opportunities and a decreasing overall standard of living. The enviro freaks are ruining the state for everyone else and worse yet, the rest of the people (who should know better) are helping them do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD26 Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 I suspect that at root they know exactly what they're doing and do expect to enjoy it - to make it an expensive place to live in, so all the merely middle class are compelled to leave, taking their factories with them, leaving behind the wealthy liberals to enjoy the California weather etc and low-skilled immigrants to do the house, farm and vineyard labour. JJM Excellent! I agree. Hey, it's all for the public good, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gags Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Hey, it's all for the public good, right? Has anyone ever defined that term with any precision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Sure. I am the public. Send me your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mammon Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 I think "public good" means good for everyone on some level. Was the law supposed to save the lives of everyone in the state, or just the dock workers and truck drivers? It might prolong their lives, but it's going to make it harder. Which I find ironic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01503 Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Sure. I am the public. Send me your money. As Old Toad would say, there's no "I" in "public". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD26 Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Sure. I am the public. Send me your money. Exactly. Each according to their need? Before death and taxes, there has to be life and production. Excessive government beyond protection of freedom doesn't provide or necessarily represent life or production does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletch Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 It seems to me that there is no better way to serve the "public good" than by having store shelves filled with plentiful, low cost goods. This new law will have the opposite effect. Not only that, it will favor large companies who can afford a $12,000 per truck unnecessary maintenance bill over small companies who cannot. Plus, as with any emission device, fuel economy will decrease, thus adding an even bigger burden upon the backs of cash-strapped truckers. So any claim that this is being done in furtherance of the public good is a fraud. It is just another nail in the coffin of industry and capitalism hammered home by environmentalists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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