April 12th, 2011
Now that the Obama Administration has okayed the Mexican trucking industries to do business in America, pesky environmentalists want those trucks to operate within U.S. standards. Lucky for the Mexican truckers, the U.S. taxpayer will pick up the tab to upgrade foreign-owned trucks ensuring their emissions meet environmental standards. According to air-quality regulators, state or federal agencies cannot force trucks purchased and manufactured in Mexico to operate within the much-higher air-quality standards inside the U.S. So clearly another problem with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) presented itself.
However, the folks at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) decided to implement a new program. (heh, heh) They decided to approach Mexican truck drivers with a compromise, the U.S. taxpayer will pay the approximately $1,600 to install a new catalytic converter that will reduce the harmful diesel emissions by 30 percent and the Mexican truck drivers can drive in the U.S. knowing they are not unnecessarily polluting the environment. The environmental agency in Arizona simply went to the federal government (who is flush with borrowed cash) and created a new federal grant program. Problem solved- no need to have the Mexican government pay to have the trucks upgraded in order to travel and trade freely in the U.S., nope the taxpayer is happy to pick up the bill. (and how!)
“It’s about establishing this relationship on environmental issues,” says ADEQ Director Henry Darwin. “It’s especially important on air quality because you can’t stop the air from moving across the border.” Darwin says the best solution is to use the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) money to fix the Mexican big rigs. (Seriously?)
However, independent U.S. truckers are not entitled to the same deal. “If I don’t pass my smog test I have to pay to fix my truck in order to get it registered,” says Tom Matthews of San Diego. “Not only are these rigs getting taxpayer money to upgrade their trucks, but they are competing with me for work. That’s just plain wrong.” (um, yeah?)
While Mexico does very little to protect the environment, it remains to be seen if retro fitting their fifth-wheeler trucks will change anything in the grand scheme of things. For example Mexico still burns its trash and the majority of the cars on the road are big-time polluters. But Darwin contends, “That it’s really the first step.”
Matthews just wishes he could get the same deal.
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Is there no end to the madness? (Is it any wonder American business can't compete?)
Enough is enough, people.
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Found this article via the Facebook page of my friend Mason Weaver. He's a Conseravative warrior on the Left Coast. I met him once after hearing him SPEAK in Winston-Salem, and consider him a good friend.
If you're on FB, find him & join him in the fight for the heart & soul of our nation.
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5 comments:
How do we stop the insanity?
Things are just surreal these days. Everything is upside down, the opposite of what it should be. How did we get here?
Wake me up when the nightmare is over, will you?
The trucks they drive on the I-5 in SoCA are death traps and cause more accidents. Whenever I see one I get as far away from it as posssible. Plus, they don't always have insurance. When will this insanity end?
Fuzz~ Good question. The first thing we do is elect people who's first priority is the AMERICAN experience, the AMERICAN way of life, the AMERICAN people --- and nothing else. We are a long, sad way from that right now - on many levels of gov't.
BetteJo~ You said it exactly right. Wake up, with me, sister. It won't be over until we fight for it.
Grandma J~ Reading your comment made my heart sink. And no, it won't end until we demand it - over & over & over.
Clearly, Obama doesn't look out for America's interests. This is but one more story proving that fact.
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