One of the useful things about being able to get my hands on new vehicles is to convey to people what they may not know about them. Sometimes, I get to know about things, too. Here’s a case in point:
Every new vehicle sent to me for test-driving and reviewing comes with what’s styled a Monroney – the auto industry jargon term for what most people not in the business call a window sticker. The window sticker details the standard and optional equipment and the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for them, so that potential buyers know something about what these items cost the dealer. Prior to the Monroney – named after Oklahoma Sen. Mike Monroney, who sponsored what became a federal requirement back in 1958 – car dealers were not required to disclose the MSRP and so were more free to suggest whatever prices they wanted to suggest.
Well, getting back to the point of this column, I found something else on the Monroney that came with the ’25 Ram 2500 I recently test-drove (review is here, if interested) Occupying a full fourth of the thing – the entirety of the top right side of the thing – was a box titled Environmental Performance. It lists the “performance” of the Ram 2500 as regards its “emissions” of “Greenhouse Gasses” – which interestingly does not include water vapor, the most potent of “greenhouse” gasses. In part because there is so much H2O in the atmosphere. It is why the sky is blue. It is why it rains. It is why it feels muggy when it’s humid. 
Never mind. Probably because it’s difficult to frame water vapor as a “pollutant.”
Instead, Environmental Performance focuses on CO2, the trace atmospheric gas (0.04 percent of the whole) a fraction of which is “emitted” by running engines. We are supposed to believe – we are heavily pressured to believe – that adding a fraction to a fraction is causing the “climate” to “change” in some vague but always apocalyptically imminent way and that the only way to prevent the always-imminent apocalypse (it has been predicted to arrive “soon” every year for the past five decades at least) is for us to drastically reduce what is styled our “carbon footprint.” This vague term means we accept living without things – most especially vehicles with engines.
It goes without saying that this goes only for us.
The few who are fomenting fear of the always apocalyptically imminent “climate catastrophe” will of course not have to turn down – much less turn off – the AC (or the heat) or give up driving (or flying) or the eating of meat rather than a meal made of crushed bugs.
To get there, the gaslighting must continue. Of a piece with how you were going to put granny in the ground if you didn’t wear a maaaaaaaask.
Hence the merely “C+” grade the Ram got, accordng to the sticker, for its Environmental Performance. But it did get a “B+” insofar as its Smog Rating, which is not surprising given no vehicle made since the mid-late 1990s produces any meaningful precursors of that. To know the truth of that, just look at the sky. It’s blue – excepting those chemtrails, of course – which are emissions the government doesn’t seem to mind. Smog – air pollution – ceased being an issue about 30 years ago, the time by which every vehicle came standard with three-way cats, electronic fuel injection and computer controlled engine management. These things eliminated 95-plus percent of the meaningfully harmful emissions that cause or worsen air pollution. Since the early-mid 2000s, the “reductions” have been fractional and so meaningless, except insofar as the costs of compliance.
But the show must go on. For the sake of compliance.
There’s another interesting thing about the Monroney that came with the Ram. It is that the box dedicated to Environmental Performance was emitted, apparently, by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). It is interesting because I do not live in California and the Ram wears Michigan plates. What has California got to do with either? More finely, doesn’t the jurisdiction of a California bureaucracy end at the California border?
No, it doesn’t.
Not when t least a third of the other states have mirrored what CARB has decreed. That serves to impose a de facto national mandate issued by a California regulatory bureaucracy because it’s simply too expensive and too difficult for the vehicle manufacturers to emit California (and mirror-state) compliant vehicles – and Monroneys – and then another batch for the remaining third or so that have not yet mirrored California.
You may have heard – and may believe – that the Orange Man put an end to all of that. He didn’t. All he did was put an end (for now) to a requirement California laid down about the selling of EVs, to the exclusion of vehicles that aren’t. He did nothing about the federal regs – or CARB’s regs – that effectively force the manufacturing of EVs and so they are all still in force.
And so the gaslighting continues.
. . .
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“…Which interestingly does not include water vapor, the most potent of “greenhouse” gasses. In part because there is so much H2O in the atmosphere. It is why the sky is blue…”
That’s not entirely correct. The sky is blue to the effect of Rayleigh Scattering, or what amounts to the differential scattering of light by atoms and molecules, most of which are oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere. The degree of scattering is proportional to the wavelength of the light to the fourth power, thus blue sunlight is scattered much more efficiently, and the sky appears blue. The same effect is responsible for the reddish-orange sunsets, which result from the blue light being scattered away as the sunlight moves through so much atmosphere on the way to us.
Often, people have been taught that the sky is blue do it reflecting the blue ocean, but then conversely they might say that the ocean is blue because it reflects the light from the blue sky. But neither is true.
A completely dry sky would still be blue, to summarize. Just unnecessary nit-picking from the peanut gallery. 😉
Regarding the water vapor contribution as a greenhouse gas: It can be readily seen that the Earth deals well with regulating its atmospheric water vapor content with its natural precipitation cycles, and any water vapor we put in the air through combustion is dealt with similarly. It would be even more difficult to convince anyone of our apocalyptic water vapor emissions than it is to do so with CO2.
Yet another EV cargo ship catches fire and sinks (what environmental cost is that?).
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/ev-carrying-ship-sinks-in-pacific-ocean-after-catching-fire
A ship that caught fire in the Pacific Ocean earlier in June has sunk.
The vessel was abandoned in the middle of the pacific – about 579km from land – after a blaze. It was carrying about 3,000 vehicles of which about 800 were electric vehicles (EV).
—————-
Shouldn’t EVs be required with Ralph Nader warning stickers, “MAY CATCH FIRE SPONTANEOUSLY”
Insurance companies may just put their foot down and not insure a ship with EV’s in the cargo hold. It depends on which they love more, money or power.
Does anyone make their car buying decision based on that infographic?
I would guess largely no, so what’s the point of it?
TIL that the sticker is called a Monroney, and that it is required by law. Sort of like those “Do not remove under penalty of law” labels on mattresses.
I imagine dealers complained when the Monroney first showed up in the back windows, some because they knew they were getting higher margins than MSRP, but also some because it immediately shut out buyers in poorer parts of the country where dealers might be more willing to accept lower margins because they have lower operating costs. The trend since the 1990s has been “no haggle” prices at mega-dealerships where they operate on a fixed margin and make it up by being a monopoly in the town. This is all because consumers are trained to accept the price on the shelf instead of negotiating for what they think it is worth. Take it or leave it is modern salesmanship. And of course MSRP has nothing to do with the total cost of ownership when you factor in loans and trades.
What started out as a consumer protection morphed into a politicized statement about how virtuous your choice of automobile might be. I wonder if some idiot politician will begin requiring a posting of the manufacturer’s ESG score? After all, in a world of identical choices, something like that matters (to someone).
Jimmy Dore played a clip of Bernie Sanders’ recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and when Sanders tried to make the case that “man made climate change” was REAL, Rogan demolished the claim. We’ve probably heard ad nauseum that the last 10 years were “the hottest on record”, but Rogan brought up a story that The Washington Post surprisingly ran last year saying that the planet was actually far warmer a loooooooooooooong time ago, and there were NO gas vehicles then. When Sanders couldn’t respond, he pivoted to other things…Bernie Sanders has exposed himself as a charlatan I don’t know how many times over the past 10 years.
https://rumble.com/v6ve4ur-rogan-challenges-bernie-sanders-over-climate-change.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a
Bernie Sanders honeymooned in then-Soviet Union and was impressed with it. He thinks bread lines are a good thing and believe Americans have too many choices. True to form the fool has never had a real job in his life because being a tax paying leech is not a job skill. I am not surprised he could not debate someone who called him on his BS.
Hi Shadow,
One thing I’ve noticed over the past few years is that if someone can’t refute an argument someone makes, the person who can’t refute an argument either launches ad hominem attacks against who they’re debating (eg accusing them of spreading hate or disinformation) or pivots to something completely irrelevant.
I have noticed that as well, John. And when such a person does that to you, you know you are over the target, or are in the right in such a conversation. I thus find it ironic that the term “racist” means nothing anymore, due to its overuse in such situations/ conversations.
Other terms that have become overused include “White supremacist”, “Conspiracy theorist”, “Fascist”, “Far-right extremist”, “Putin puppet”, etc.
Don’t forget “anti-semite” , whatever the hell a “semite” is.
Oh yes, the term “Anti-semite”. I wonder if the Establishment Right is the one overusing that term much like the Establishment Left overused the terms I mentioned earlier.
Remember how Kamala Harris touted the endorsement of fmr Vice President Dick Cheney when she ran for President last year? I’ve heard of liberal Democrats who HATED Dick Cheney for years but somehow LOVED Cheney when he endorsed Kamala. Crazy huh?
The EPA/CARB monstrosity is emblematic of two things.
1. Capt. “Red Legs” Terrell in The Outlaw Josey Wales when he said, “Doin’ right ain’t got no end.”
2 GovCo is like kudzu. You bring it in thinking it will solve a problem then it completely takes over and is nearly impossible to get rid of.
Eric: “It lists the “performance” of the Ram 2500 as regards its “emissions” of “Greenhouse Gasses” – which interestingly does not include water vapor, the most potent of “greenhouse” gasses.”
If anyone remembers the petition that was presented to people that called for the banning of “Dihydrogen Monoxide” as a precursor chemical used in the production of chemical weapons and a high potential for death if consumed or exposed to in large quantities. Lots of people signed it even tough “Dihydrogen Monoxide” is actually water.
This is how it works; change the name of some item too something scary and watch people call for it to be banned.
Examples include; common rifles becoming “Assault Weapons”, a seasonal flu becomes a “Pandemic”, variable solar output becomes “Man Made Climate Change” ad infinitum.
I missed the link too the report so here it is.
Dihydrogen Monoxide FAQ: https://dhmo.org/facts.html
What are some of the dangers associated with DHMO?
– Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
– Contributes to soil erosion.
– Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
Why has Clowngress not banned this omnipresent menace?? I ask you …
Yes, yes. There’s also nearly a 100% correlation of serial killers having consumed that wretched substance the day of every murder.
Hi ML. Let’s also not forget that there’s too much DHMO in the whiskey we buy.
Veery well-said, Landru –
And all of it relies on inculcated imbecility; i.e.; a mental sclerosis that causes the afflicted to never ask questions and to not even have the sound basis for the asking of them. Government schools have performed brilliantly in this regard.
“ Government schools have performed brilliantly in this regard “
I think the Commander is weary of me screaming at the TV news when this BS is spouted re: ‘man made climate change’ and cue up a stack in some industrial area spewing steam passed off as smoke. G Damn modern America is ignorant on basic grade school level science. Oxygen / carbon dioxide cycle 5th grade science book in the mid ‘60s.
Where is the pushback? No balls on the R side to end the expensive nonsense including Trump and Company.
‘Doesn’t the jurisdiction of a California bureaucracy end at the California border?’ — eric
CARB got a special role in Section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act of 1970, known as the ‘California waiver’ [sounds like a TeeVee show about surfing, don’t it?]. Other states can adopt Commiefornia standards under Section 177.
All of this is unconstitutional on its face. That did not trouble its Uniparty authors, Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME) and Howard Baker (R-TN). But the machinations of these long-ago Congress Clowns haunt us today, and demonstrate why there should be a 50-year sunset on fedgov statutes.
Meanwhile, in the bar charts labeled Greenhouse Gas Rating and Smog Rating, the former is more focused on the deadly gas CO₂ which has claimed the lives of millions [/sarc]; the latter on oxides of nitrogen. Then an undisclosed statistical procedure was used to determine the Ram’s relative ranking among its peers.
Without knowing the chemistry and the math behind what CARB has done, this is useless information. So it is boiled down to the letter grades awarded to inmates in government schools. One is surprised not to find a bumper sticker: My Ram earned a B+ on its smog rating!. Gag me with a spoon!
When I’m driving in my car
And a man talks on the radio
He’s telling me more and more
About some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can’t go no satisfaction
— Rolling Stones, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction