Why I hate the Ministry of the Environment
This spring I had my 1988 Ford Mustang freshly painted and added a B303 camshaft to give the car a little more power and lumpy sounding idle. To put the car on the road I had to renew my license plate sticker.
In Ontario we have a Drive Clean program whereby you have to get an emissions test for your vehicle every two years. If your vehicle fails the test, you can’t get your license plate renewed.
The law used to be that if your car was 20 years or older it was exempt from emissions testing. I was looking forward to never having to test my 20 year old Mustang again. I hated paying this tax grab in the first place.
I went to the Ministry of Transportation office a month ago to renew my plates and they told me I needed an emissions test done. Huh? I told them that they were wrong, that the car was exempt. I was wrong.
In January of this year, some moron at the Ministry of the Environment decreed that cars built in 1988 and later would have to get an emissions test every two years, indefinitely. What? Who told them that they can change the rules?
That performance cam I had installed has cost me two failed emissions tests. The hydrocarbon reading on curb idle was a little high. So what is a guy to do when he just wants to lay down a thick patch of rubber? He goes under the table and pays the going rate for an emissions test.
After a month of waiting patiently, there will be a 1988 Ford Mustang GT Cobra laying down a lot of rubber in the east end of Toronto today. Happy trails!
Stumble It!Posted in Miscellaneous at 11:13 AM
Comments
I hate the environment. Go Jay. If you want to destroy the earth so that you can look like an Italian guy who was once popular in the late 80’s, then go for it.
Don’t worry about the Mustang / push-mower inconsistency. You’ve been inconsistent all of your life.
Case in point: As a 19 year-old Van Halen fan you made a music video of yourself lip-synching and dancing to “Rumors” by Timex Social Club.
Posted by: Andy on June 25, 2008 3:56 PM
Andrew, Vanilla Ice is hardly Italian and his white 5.0 in his music video rocks, yo!
Isn’t life, nothing more than a series of inconsistencies?
For example, you’ve never played any kind of soccer yet your entire job is making a soccer game for EA. You use Secret under arm deodorant even though you are a man. You are married even though you are…
Posted by: Jay 
on June 25, 2008 11:38 PM
Glad I could be part of the laying down a patch program sponsored by our lovely gov’t. Maybe they should stop driving FORD 250 super duty pick-up’s and give guys with performance cars a break.
JB
Posted by: JB on June 26, 2008 6:46 AM
That’s what Ontario gets for voting Liberal! I know a good shop you can take your car to, it’s part of the Ontario Works program. If your lucky you’ll only spend $10K and have your car back in say 2-3 years.
That;s alos what you get for going green. You want to lay down rubber but have a push along grass clipper. Choose gas and energy consumption man, may as well get it while it lasts! Vrooooooom goes the 8-banger.
Posted by: Paul on June 27, 2008 7:19 AM
