So I’m sitting here with a flyer I received in the mail form the Ohio ECheck program. For anyone not familiar with the term, it’s Ohio’s vehicle emissions testing program. Over the years I’ve always had a few issues with the program and never considered it a consistent measurement of cars emissions. I’ve literally had cars fail leave the testing facility, drive around, come back an hour later and had them pass. I don’t feel the program is a completely horrible idea, I just can’t say I trust the results or maybe the method? I’m no expert on vehicle emissions, it’s just my opinion on it.
All opinions about the program aside I am looking at this flyer. Here it’s time for me to take my 14 year old Dodge truck with 192,000 miles in for testing. Guess I better get that hole in the muffler fixed. SO, In the flyer they are claiming the program works and that they are removing 62,000 tons of vehicle emissions from the air each year. Really? I mean REALLY? They can honestly state that the ECheck program itself has done that? I have a real hard time believing the program has done any such thing. The ONLY thing it might have done is convinced someone driving an older vehicle that will not pass to go out and purchase a newer one. Then go out and sell the vehicle that fails to a neighboring county without ECheck. So what is the point? I mean what is the thought process here? It’s ok if your car’s emissions suck as long as you don’t live in these counties? I mean, last I checked people from Wayne county are free to drive through Cuyahoga? Maybe there is some argument that the more rural areas have more trees and can therefor filter more pollution, I don’t know. Someone please explain it?
Back to the 62,000 tons! First off I looked around their website www.ohioecheck.org and I failed to find anything about how they determine the air quality. I couldn’t find any data on historical air quality, say before the ECheck program. No sort of graph indicating these improvements since the program has gone into effect. ZERO information on how in the world they can attribute ANY improvements to the ECheck program. Maybe I missed it? Maybe it’s there, I just didn’t see it. After all, I didn’t click on EVERY single link on their site. Just seems to me if the data existed, if they could ACTUALLY prove it worked, they would be waiving it in our face. I mean show me the proof that this has done ANYTHING other than provide some minimum wage jobs? If someone can find it please send it my way. I mean I’m SURE none of the reductions or improvements have ANYTHING to do with the EPA’s emission standards on newer vehicles, right? It’s all about the ECheck program! Come on already, the simple fact is cars get old and die, and they get replaced with new ones. New cars HAVE to meet WAY more stringent emissions standards then say a 1972 Plymouth Fury 3. So has/does ECheck actually done anything aside from cost us money and provide some jobs? I have my doubts; I say ANY improvement in air quality is all because of smaller more efficient vehicles, PERIOD! Besides with gas prices fluctuating the way they do anymore who can afford to drive that Fury 3 anywhere but the local hot dog stand. That is if the hot dog stand is still in business!
