Do you remember the crazed Union cavalry officer who hounded Clint Eastwood’s character in The Outlaw Josey Wales? He said “doin’ right ain’t got no end.” The state of California – and it is not just California – sees it that way also. Even to the extent of forbidding the sale of replacement tires that aren’t exactly the same spec (as far as rolling resistance) as the tires that were originally fitted to the vehicle by its manufacturer.
The doin’ right part has to do with the lower rolling resistance, which – so the argument goes – increases fuel economy and (by dint of that) lowers “emissions.” This is technically true, in the same way that adding a cup of water to the ocean increases the volume of the ocean – and in the same way that taking a cup of water out of the ocean decreases the volume of the ocean.
It is not, of course, explained to people in this way. Instead, people are told that forcing them to buy the same type of tire that their vehicle originally came with will result in meaningful mileage gains (as well as meaningful reductions in “emissions”) which is deliberately untrue, in the sense that the people pushing this untruth know it to be untrue. Put another way, they are pushing it for punitive purposes, though they will never openly admit this. Just as the “climate change” pushers will never admit they have been using the “climate change” bogeyman to get people – the masses, I mean – to accept an ever-diminishing standard of living. The “climate change” pushers do not intend to diminish their lifestyle anymore than Trump intends to trade in his new fleet of 250 V8-powered Cadillac Escalades for a fleet of fuel-sippy Prius hybrids.
Up to now – as regards tires, at least – only the car companies have had to worry about how much fractional increases in rolling resistance negatively affect their fuel-efficiency and “emissions” report cards. Once the vehicle is sold, the buyer was – as in past tense – free to buy a different tire, perhaps one with a more aggressive tread, even if it meant a little bit more rolling resistance. Or because it cost less than the factory tire. In other words, the vehicle owner was free to decide for himself whether it made more practical or financial sense to buy a set of replacement tires that ffered more grip or cost $20 less per tire than the cost of the factory-original tire – or to buy the more compromised and perhaps more expensive, factory replacement tire, which increased his vehicle’s gas mileage by half an MPG (and reduced his vehicle’s “emissions” by a fraction of a gram per mile).
In other words, a meaningful vs. a meaningless difference.
California’s professional immiserators now decree that come 2029, Californians will longer have the freedom to make that choice and bet your Johnson Rod that other states – Washington and Oregon are likely emulators – will similarly decree the end of that freedom, too.
Of course, California’s professional immiserators claim this will save Californians “billions in fuel costs – which is bullshit. If were not, it wouldn’t be necessary to force people to save “billions,” would it? Just as if “masks worked,” it would not have been necessary to force people to “mask up.” Good ideas never require force. It’s the bad ones that necessarily do.
“Today, we are proud to approve the nation’s first replacement tire efficiency standards,” says chief immiserator, CEC Chair David Hochschild. “This action will help Californians save approximately $1 billion a year on refueling while reducing pollution and extending the range of vehicles on the road. I would like to thank all the consumer organizations, industry leaders and public health advocates for their support of this important step forward for California.”
Italics added. “Extending the range”? By – what? – half a mile per tankful? Maybe two whole miles?
It will be interesting to see how this will be enforced. At the retail level, it will be easy enough. Tire-sellers and tire-installers will not sell or install “illegal” tires (never mind them being DOT legal). But what will be done about Rolling Resistance Scofflaws who furtively finagle the purchase and installing of “illegal” tires? Will there be Rolling Resistance Checkpoints? If it seems a bit much, don’t forget there are already Safety Seat Checkpoints. And also that Flock cameras can probably identify “illegal” tires and notify The Authorities of your scofflawing.
One thing that is certain to happen as this latest cancer metastasizes is that there will be fewer choices in tires available, because tire companies aren’t going to keep making non-OE (original equipment) tires that can’t be legally sold or installed in the biggest markets. There is also another issue, which is what happens when OE-spec tires are no longer made because the market for them is not profitable enough to continue making them – because the number of vehicles that originally came with them has attrited down over the years to a relative handful of the number that were built? This is already a problem for cars more than 25 years old, many of which came originally with 15 inch (or smaller) wheels. Almost all new vehicles come with at least 17 inch wheels now – gnomesayin’? – and so there isn’t much available in the way of tires made for 15 inch (and smaller) wheels.
Soon – the order goes into effect in 2029, but the effects will be noticeable much sooner – it will be everyone’s problem.
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