John,
although I wouldn't necessarily call it a 'power trip', I agree with everything else you say.
Here in OR we have the DEQ- Dept. of Environmental Quality. Only in the Portland metro area and other larger metro areas in the state does one have to have vehicle smog checks. If you live outside the relatively small boundary, you never have to have your vehicle checked regardless of what year it is. Last I checked, vehicles can still emit lot's of pollution whether or not they're in the confines of the metro area!?! I find it extrememly frustrating that one can live just outside the boundary and yet drive in the city without ever having to do a check regardless of what year one's vehicle is! In fact, I've known people that have their cars registered outside of the boundary so that they don't have to go through the DEQ test.
Look, I can appreciate the fact that more cars in a metro area increases pollution in that area and creates higher health issues for people in that given area. However, I think it's a double standard since pollution is pollution regardless of where one lives and I'm concerned about the entire planet not just one tiny metro area. Personally, I try to keep my cars at their best running condition, and I make sure that all my cars pass even though I don't have to.
On a slightly different note, I don't get the fact that in some areas of the country one can take an older vehicle with an older engine that puts out more emissions and swap in a newer high performance crate engine with EFI and whatnot and have to comply with the newer model engine standards rather than the year of the vehicle. You're improving the quality of the air by putting in a better performing engine that puts out less emissions! I don't get it.
