Humor
No Emission Tests For Canyon Traffic
February 28, 2010 
CANYON COUNTY RUSH HOUR looked like this in the old days more often than not. This scene was captured Sunday on the Lower Dam at Lake Lowell as a band (or is it a flock?) of sheep were moved to the “lambing pens” in the area. Sheepherders from Peru are the norm these days, but many of Idaho’s Basque people are descendants of those who came from northern Spain to tend the flocks nearly a century ago.
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© 2010 Boise Guardian. 
Feb 28, 2010, 8:56 pm
Looks a lot like the Idaho congressional delegation. I assume Beck and Limbaugh are somewhere at the front of the line.
Feb 28, 2010, 11:31 pm
Who needs emission testing in 2C? If they had emission testing over there where would you begin? The whole place is a Republican free enterprise zone. If it doesn’t stink, you ain’t makin coin. When were kids in Caldwell we used to say, “Canyon County, where a fart smells good”!
Bout those sheep being like the Idaho Legislature, they all just follow the one eyed toothless one in front. Unless you own em, all you get is what’s left on the road behind.
Mar 1, 2010, 12:02 am
It’s the sign of the times: even when herding sheep one must have bottled water. What did we do in the old days? Just fall over and die of thirst?
Mar 1, 2010, 7:01 am
It is a common misconception that the Basque people came to America in order to become sheep herders. In fact, the Basque people came with the gold rushes, looking to find a fortune. Obviously not all people became rich. Sheep herding came to be a popular occupation for them once they arrived here, because it wasn’t a sought after occupation, thus providing them with ample opportunity to make a living.
Mar 1, 2010, 10:09 am
Just another flock of shell-shocked and fleeced Americans on the road to nowhere.
Mar 1, 2010, 10:29 am
I would postulate that it’s the Ada County Residents who are most sheep-like in their meek acceptance of emission tests.
Consider:
– Well over 90% of cars pass the test on the first go-round. (For those driver/owners, the test is a government-mandated bureaucratic waste of time and money.)
– If you don’t pass, the standard procedure is for the testing guy to tweak your car (something minor like adjusting the idle screw), retesting and it passes, then adjusting it back to the way it was.
– If you still don’t pass, you might have to spend up to $200 to get your car fixed. If it will cost over $200, or if you’re poor, you can get a “hardship exemption,” and keep driving the car anyway. (Insanity!!)
Baaaa! Baaaaa!
(A much more common-sense approach would be to use the smog-bots that are available, randomly placed, that will identify the polluting vehicles… and then actually get those vehicles off the road!)
EDITOR NOTE–Amen Bikeboy! The gospel according to David: THOU SHALT NOT POLLUTE…whether from 2C, Texas, Boise or Florida. We test them for speed and alchohol, why not emissions?
Mar 1, 2010, 1:10 pm
bikeboy, 90% will pass but its the really bad 5% that cause 90% of the pollution that they’ll catch and testing stations are not allowed to do any adjustments just for the reason you stated.
As for the smog bots, even if they did work they are not going to get every vehicle inspected. Randomly placed to cover every vehicle and every part of the county is impossible.
Mar 1, 2010, 2:51 pm
I had a 1984 “DETROIT IRON” that was burning as much oil as gas. They had a voluntary check of vehicles here in Canyon County a few years back and I drove it in for a check to see if it would pass. Guess what? It passed with flying colors. I thought there has to be something innately wrong with a car running this bad will still pass the test.
Jut for the record it did go in for a valve job the very next week and is still on the road and runs like a Rolex with new valve guides and seals.
Stationary sources that belch out junk 24/7 are far worse than cars with fuel injection will ever be for pollution. Also, gas pumps without vapor recovery systems are problematic. Every time you fill our car the displaced volume of air in the tank escapes into the atmosphere along with all the volatile hydrocarbons.
$11 one way or the other is not going to make or break me but it is a joke along with another hand in our pockets.
Mar 2, 2010, 1:09 pm
Emissions testing is a small price to pay for cleaner air. The “smog” in the Treasure Valley, caused by vehicles and industries, is visible on a drive into town from Mountain Home. You can see the change. If you have asthma as I do, you ensure you always have your inhaler in your car for traffic lulls. Although the air does not seem as bad as a couple years ago when there were daily alerts, it’s still a big health and quality of life issue. Instead of taking a “civil disobedience” stance, 2C should set a good example for its constituents and require low-cost emissions testing and waivers for those hardest hit by the economy similar to tax and other hardship cases. This is not a battle worth fighting. A healthier population is a more productive population. Idaho prides and promotes itself on quality of life issues, including clean air, clean water, hunting, fishing, biking and other outdoor amenities. Let’s put Idaho back on the map as a good place to visit or live, thereby increasing tourist and tax dollars. Back to the basics, folks.
Mar 2, 2010, 3:37 pm
Don’t worry KappaTA. As soon as the feds tell Canyon County they won’t get the federal funds, these clowns will have every county and city vehicle in line for inspection within an hour.
Mar 3, 2010, 9:56 pm
Re: testing vehicles the way we do it now it accomplishes nothing but to inconvenience drivers and….I’d say enrich operators but I doubt it. Someone mentioned fixed sources. One dead-still winter morning as I biked up Federal Way I was amazed to see a huge cloud over the locomotive works. The undissipated product of overnight testing of a couple of their engines. Holy Crap! Even if each emissions testing station had an adjoining car crusher to immediately eliminate the no-pass vehicles, emissions testing won’t counteract that stream of pure pollution!
Mar 4, 2010, 2:51 pm
To Bikerboy ericn1300 is right on target, if you see or can prove a particular vehicle was adjusted at those TEST ONLY stations just get the license plate and test location info to Air Quality Board they WILL audit that car and test station and they have the abillity to lock out any employee remotely so that tester can’t work at any station, instant out of a job!!! I can’t say it doesn’t happen but most employees are there for the paycheck and the risks are very high, also if that employee is found guilty he is as they say (black balled) from the program never to return, and yes I live 10 hours a day in one of those red vans and have had customers ask what it costs for a pass, my answer is always (you pay any and all bills I currently pay every month since I wont be getting a paycheck any more)! also there is a rumor that canyon county will make it so you are not allowed to fix your own vehicles you will only be allowed to have repairs at the test stations they set up no more CHEEP repairs the ada county
system allows repairs by your self or a shop of YOUR CHOICE….. Canyon county dragged there feet to long and now are stuck with it
Mar 5, 2010, 9:40 am
Can’t fix your own? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL !!!!! No body touches my cars, Ever! That’s a California thinking kind of law, and it didn’t survive challenges in many of the commie states where it was crushed a few years ago. Can’t think of a bigger bunch of crooks in the world than car repair people, a law forcing me to do business with them will not stand.