- IdahoStatesman.com
- Blogs
- Bronco Beat
- Murph's Turf
- Varsity Extra
- Idaho Newsreader
- Inside Idaho Business
- Commentary: Kevin Richert
- Your Local Government
- Letters from the West
- Into the Outdoors
- Words & Deeds
- The Beer Nut: Patrick Orr
- What's Online
- Nonprofits
- TechIdaho
- The Cinemaniac
- Idaho Politics: LiCalzi
- Idaho Legislature: Labrador
- Idaho Legislature: Langhorst
- Forums
- Recent Posts
- Content
Gas prices are high, Air quality is low…
Submitted by NampaReader on Fri, 11/23/2007 - 2:18pm.
In the past the federal government has allowed tax write offs to offset the purchase price of hybrid vehicles in an attempt to encourage choosing vehicles that use less gasoline and produce less pollution. Here in the Treasure Valley as gas prices have risen and air quality has dropped, record numbers of motorcycles and what are being labeled as "alternative vehicles" such as mopeds and motor scooters have hit the road. These vehicles likewise use less fuel (some models getting as much as 80-100 MPG), pollute less and are already readily available. Should the federal Government or the State of Idaho make an attempt to encourage the purchase of these vehicles as well? If so, what type of incentives would be appropriate? Tax breaks to cover a portion of their purchase price? lowering or eliminating registration fees? What do you think, do you own a motorcycle, are you a moped rider? Do you ride a bicycle and wish to see city streets more bicycle friendly. Perhaps you think public transportation in the valley needs to be improved, how could/should it be acheived?…..have your say!
NampaReader
"Here in the Treasure Valley as gas prices have risen and air quality has dropped" ------------ .
"NAMPA"reader , yesterday we took O'l Whats Her Names PT Cruiser in for it's annual "care about air" check ($15).
Every morning I-84 is jammed with coal burners from Nampa , creating gridlock so they can take there paychecks back to Nampa and support there economy .
And you want to know what I think ? GUESS !
Reddog
Darn Nampans
Gee Red, You want me to guess what your thinking. OK, I'll give it a try. From the sound of you post and putting quotes around the Nampa portion of my screen name, I'll guess you think I live in Nampa and work in Boise or some other part of the valley. I'll also guess that you think I drive a big Ol' diesel vehicle (coal burner). Lastly, I'll guess you think it's unfair that Ada county has smog checks, and Canyon county does not. How did I do? Is that what you were thinking? Well, let me put to rest a couple of those assumptions for you. You right, I drive a pickup, but it is a gas powered 4 cylinder truck that gets 28-30 miles to the gallon. Your wrong, I live and work in Nampa. As for the Ada county having a smog check program while Canyon county does not, your right again, it is unfair. Smog checks are just another government scam to take additional money from you, while saying they haven't raised taxes. You should contact your representatives about that. Now, would you like to post any of your opinions on how to fix the problems rather than ranting about those darn diesel drivin' Nampans making you angry .
Darn Nampans
Well you are wrong on most of your guesses .
I think the "air checks" on cars are a good idea ---------- where it screws up is it's not state wide .
You should come to Boise (where all the smog from Nampa winds up), stand on the valley floor and look up to the mountains . Beautiful isn't it ?
Granted , as someone who has COPD I'm probably not as forgiving of the fast food employee parking lots full of pre 90's cars with fancy wheels , dented fenders and 2/C plates as you are .
But don't worry about me , I'll just chock and gag my way through another winter -- because Canyon county is to dam cheap to get there cars checked . The only good thing about Canyon county smog laws(?)is , it's a great place to sell the coal burners that no longer pass the rules of a civilized society .
I guess you are OK with oil smoke pouring out of the winged wonders tail pipe -------- how do you feel about the blasting stereo rattling your windows at 3AM ?
Reddog
your right
it's all canyon county's fault, all the car are old and burn oil. If we make air checks on them it will solve the problem. Get real, thats not even close to the problem. Its growth
twiggy
"Its growth" ------------ Growth of what ? If you mean to many cars on our roads , then I agree .
Now , if all those cars ran a little cleaner we might not have health alerts 4 out of 5 days .
Believe me I would love to leave it to people and there personal responsibility to maintain there own machinery . People like you , for instance . But thats not going to happen is it ?
When the feds pull the "road money" and local communities pass local option taxes to fix the roads , the air check is going to seem pretty dam cheap .
Reddog
There seems to be plenty of opportunity...
for growth and new offices at Canyon Hearing Aid Center, but they've never taken the initiative!
fuels tax
Higher fuels tax will do the trick.
We don't need to reward someone for doing the smart thing.
I like to look at the extremes of an idea to see if it has merit.
In your perfect world, everyone drives a hybrid or a motocycle, so what? You'll still have 10,000 cars coming onto a clogged freeway and driving 30 miles.
Or you get everyone off the road by such wonderful incentives to pay them to ride a bus, rail, or HOV, then who's gonna pay for the roads? There still needs to be a basic infrastucture.
Let's let people make the choice and use the ol pay to play motto.
Until people are hit in the pocketbook, they don't do anything. Make it more expensive to commute and people will eventually reduce their commute. Put an exemption or rebate for commercial freight (truckers) and fund alternative transportation with the revenue.
Fuel taxes...
have next to no effect on gas prices. They are built into the base and SELDOM CHANGE.
Making W history in January '09 won't solve it either, nor will Saudi Arabia uppping production as they have been doing.
Sucker mentality of speculators and little real information about global politics married with infrastucture that would get foreign opeerators hung over it's conditions, and then of course a storm happens or an explosion/fire, blah yada Whoopi Doo.
Dad came into the business when the Iranian crisis was boiling over and then there was RATIONING. Our station had been CLOSED over a year due to the proprietor's retirement and we had to limit sales when the station across the street and four others had no troubles at all. We got premium in the early '80s when we moved the business to Ontario and not only did nobody bother to brainwash the public to buy it, our pumps promptly VAPOR LOCKED and we primed them to death only to find few people even bought it then, maybe a guy with a 4-door T-bird with a 427 (yes, they briefly made a sedan with those Continental doors and WHERE do you think the Conny was derived anyway) and RV owners plus former Governor Andrus came by once and Jim Vanderzwaan the KTVB weatherman before our own Rick Lantz? YEP, Dad declared and went back to fixing cars on 12th Avenue.
As U C, Monsieur Pimp and colleagues, even at 1.319 it can be a pain in the gas to be a dealer.
udapimp
"Higher fuels tax will do the trick." ---------- Kind of curios , just how high does a gallon of gas have to get to bring about the changes you envision ?
Just a few years ago if you would of told me gas would be going for over $3 a gallon , I would of said the streets would be nearly deserted . Just cop cars and people going to work and straight home .
Thats not what I'm seeing .
Reddog
I still own a bike...
older than you.
It's still my "car" and probably will be until I die.
One advantage is that I'll never make it to anywhere outside Payette County on it ;-ppppp
Unless I inherit my parents' home...then I will have to watch out for people on 12th Avenue Road etc but fortunately I have had a lot of experience with Nampa drivers.
I was BORN at Mercy HOSPITAL in '66 and remember when young adults would park their cars at Kurtz Park and pull the speaker boxes out on the car roofs to play sports and listen to X95 (today's River)...about 30 years ago. We moved to Nyssa because my dad wanted to operate a gas station and continue his mechanics work as his own boss. By 1985 gasoline had about ruined him and I was in Ontario and Oregon pretty much for good and my folks came back to Nampa. I deal with it regularly even if I don't see it often since I sold the car (and got rid of the debt that operating it held me hostage to despite owning the car completely).
What YOU call Nampa is that stupid Interstate traffic and it's arterial network. I call the neighborhoods and downtown Nampa and I don't mind them a bit.