CARB revisited

I am still rather upset about CARB, so for those who don't care, stop reading. However, I will urge you to consider some things. If you don't think one states regulations will effect you, think again. Below are some food facts about California (taken directly from Beach California).

California has been the number one food and agricultural producer in the United States for more than 50 consecutive years.
 More than half the nation's fruit, nuts, and vegetables come from here.
California is the nation's number one dairy state.
California's leading commodity is milk and cream. Grapes are second.
California's leading export crop is almonds.
Nationally, products exclusively grown (99% or more) in California include almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwifruit, olives, persimmons, pistachios, prunes, raisins, clovers, and walnuts.
From 70 to 80% of all ripe olives are grown in California.
California is the nation's leading producer of strawberries, averaging 1.4 billion pounds of strawberries or 83% of the country's total fresh and frozen strawberry production. Approximately 12% of the crop is exported to Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Japan primarily. The value of the California strawberry crop is approximately $700 million with related employment of more than 48,000 people.

Think about it, half of all food comes from California. If it costs more for a truck to do business in the state of California, which it will just based on having to purchase a newer truck or spend thousands on a retrofit, you better believe those costs will end up getting tacked onto the food cost itself. I do not have a crystal ball, but I can foresee the cost of a gallon of milk doubling in the next year and a half. To keep up with the USDA's suggestion on eating fresh fruits and vegetables, you will be paying a lot more, especially from April to October, when California's salad bowl is in full production. Even the cost of your burger will increase due to all the items that come out of California.
Do people outside of the trucking industry not get it? Do the states not care what this law will do to their economy? In my opinion, this one law is the equivalent of a tariff imposed by California on the other states in the union.
I realize this is all very political, and I do apologize, but I honestly don't feel like most of the country understands. I feel like the country is so busy worrying about California's other legislation (marriage equality), no body even sees this as a real threat. Will it matter who gets pension benefits when the only tomato you can afford to eat is the one you grew? (And we can't grow them in a truck, even though I would love fresh tomatoes.)
Am I upset about feeling like my life plans have been thwarted by one state? Yes, but I firmly believe if the rest of the country had any idea the ramifications of this one law, they would be upset too.

Feeling Down

I will warn anyone reading this, as I am sure you guessed by the title, I am feeling down. I am a planner. I can "plan" things years out, and yet sometimes I forget to look right in front of me. Instead of the inability to see the forest for the trees, I see the forest and miss the tree that is about to crash in front of me. CARB is that tree.
For those of you who read this and aren't aware, CARB is the California Air Resources Board. They have mandated the pollution level allowed by all trucks coming into the state. Sounds good right? I mean who wants to look at smog. Truck exhaust is so... dirty. Those old nasty trucks just need to be replaced. Right? If you agree with these things, you might as well stop reading. For the rest of you, beware I am about to rant about the cause of my "down" feeling.
Those of us in the trucking industry have been aware of CARB, but hoped someone would sue, or there would be some other way around it. Well, I don't see that on the horizon, so it is time for me to prepare. We finally found a company that would allow three in the truck full time, but got final word this week that if we do not become California compliant our lease will be terminated. The cost of that simple compliance is $32,000 for parts alone, so the installation charges would be who knows how much. Or, get a newer truck. We have had so many nos  this week, I don't even want to say the word.
Would we like to get a newer truck? Well sure, but the idea of being forced into the decision, and then being told no at every attempt is very difficult. Our truck is 14 years old. We have had to work hard to get it to the condition it is. Our life is spent in this truck. And now, I just don't know what we will do.