Author: Mike Herron

I received an alert from the ARB news service touting a recent employer citation and fine and was struck by a few comments in the article.

SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board recently fined Rapid Harvest Company $16,500 for diesel emissions violations.

An ARB investigation showed Rapid Harvest, based in Salinas, Calif., failed to properly inspect their diesel vehicles in 2005.

Recently fined $16,500 for failing to properly inspect in 2005?! Where is the equity in this? I guess the fact that this employer apparently DID properly inspect their diesel vehicles in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, as one would assume due to the lack of any fine or penalty levied for those years, didn’t matter?

Like many of you, I spent the better part of Sunday shuffling between my BBQ, my fridge, and the television, taking in the spectacle of the Super Bowl. And like most who watch, I was looking forward to seeing which ads would make me laugh this year. Hands down, Betty White saying “that’s not what your girl friend said” in the Snickers ad was my favorite as far as funny goes. But it was another ad that really stood out for the message it conveyed.

Audi’s ad for their new A3 TDI clean diesel “green car” was both funny and scary. Funny in that it skewered the stereotype of the fanatical “eco-agency” stormtroopers citing and apprehending offenders of seemingly outlandish environmental laws and regulations. Funny in that they used a clever remix of the Cheap Trick classic song “Dream Police” (and even funnier that my 10-year-old daughter knew the words – thanks Guitar Hero). But then I remembered this, the AB 32 Scoping Plan.