Washington State has a Nasty Surprise Coming Next Week

I predict a huge backlash as the people discover that their Overlords in Olympia are now dictating where they can buy a new car. Dino Rossi and the Republican party needs to jump all over this. Unless of course the Republicans are for this new law, in which case we will need to clean house, top to bottom.

The 2009 model year vehicles will start rolling into the dealerships next week! Notice they kept this new law quiet until just now, and they chose to release this rather important news over the weekend. From yesterday's Olympian:

Tougher vehicle-emission standards go into effect in Washington with the roll-out of 2009-model cars, light-duty trucks and most vans and sport utility vehicles.
It's the result of clean-car legislation that state lawmakers passed in 2005, cracking down on vehicle exhaust pollutants that damage air quality and people's health.

Still on hold is a piece of the legislation that would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has refused to issue a federal waiver to allow this state and 15 others, including California and Oregon, to enforce more stringent greenhouse-gas releases from new vehicles.

"I'm disappointed that the White House has so far blocked our ability to also reduce climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions in new cars," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a news release reminding the public of the change in car-emission standards. "But we have gone to court to overcome the obstacle, and I believe we will prevail."

In addition, presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have gone on record in support of the waiver request by the states.

Even without the greenhouse-gas emission reductions, the clean-car standards will have the effect of eliminating the air-pollution equivalent of 200,000 cars by 2020, Gregoire said.

State residents who buy vehicles outside the state should make sure they meet the clean-car standards, warned state Department of Licensing Director Liz Luce.

"If the vehicle doesn't meet the standards, it can't be licensed in Washington," she said.

Supporters of the new law said the cleaner-burning vehicles use fuel more efficiently, reducing fuel costs. In addition, the model year 2009 vehicles won't need emission checks, which are required in some areas of the state -- but not South Sound -- because of air-quality concerns.

People are going to once again, start registering their vehicles out of state. Car dealers will have a more difficult time getting enough vehicles, this law will no longer allow the common practice of in state dealers trading with out of state dealers. Repair bills will go up, as I pointed out in my previous post. This new law effectively hands over Washington state's emission standards to the California legislature.

Washington state cannot afford 4 more years of this insanity.