Catholic Herald Parenting™

	Friends of the Family

As if I didn't have enough to do already, the Division of Motor Vehicles kindly informed me that my ancient Oldsmobile Cutlass was due for its biannual emission inspection.

"I'll get this out of the way now," I thought, as I drove to the closest vehicle inspection location. The automated sign near the entrance informed me that the wait time was approximately 12 minutes. I was prepared; I had brought a book. I pulled up behind a car in one of the testing lanes, turned off the engine, and began to read.

Soon I was wedged in the cramped waiting area, flanked by a soda machine and a color monitor which showed the results of the test in progress. As the tester accelerated my antique, I watched a horizontal line climb the screen. On the left side of the screen was a shorter line that changed colors. After complex scientific analysis, I reached the conclusion that if the little line turns red, that's bad.

That's exactly what happened. But I reassured myself that it had only been red for a couple seconds. I went back to my book, but looked up after reading only a couple sentences. Why was the tester accelerating all over again? Was she double checking something? Not to worry. I get the oil changed every 3,000 miles, have a tune-up once a year, and ... what! I failed.

She handed me the test results. She must have realized I was a therapist, because she didn't bother to explain what they meant. And because I'm a therapist, I didn't bother to ask. I was handed a listing of mechanics who do emissions testing. And if the first repairs didn't do it, I had to get more repairs up to a certain dollar limit. Then I could apply for a waiver.

"This is just great," I thought. "Now this is going to cost me more time and money. Just give me a waiver and let me drive the car." I drove directly to a mechanic on the list, who I had worked with, only to be told that he no longer does emissions work. More time. I drove to another shop, who told me they could do the job next week. Great. Now the inconvenience of having my wife drop me off at work.

One week and $278 later, I was on my way back to the vehicle inspection center. "This time I'm picking another lane," I rationalized. "That first tester was probably an incompetent flunky. Or the equipment was faulty. This time I intend to pass."

There was another weary man in the cramped waiting area. When the testers left to hook up the equipment to our cars, I told him that my car had failed. His had too. In fact, his car had failed seven times before. He had a plan. He confided that he had rigged the car to make to make it easier to pass, but once he passes, he's changing it back so that it will run better. He said emissions testing was a "racket" and he had told the tester so.

"Then the guy asks me if I want my children to be driving around in polluted air." He leaned over for the punch line. "I told him, 'Hey, I'll buy my kids and your kids a mask.'" The tester re-entered. "The Oldsmobile passed. The Cadillac failed."

As I drove home, I thought about what had happened. It's not about waiting in line or paying for repairs. It's about the environment. It's about the kind of future our children will inherit from us. Trying to beat the emissions "racket" is simply a way of indulging ourselves now and passing the cost down to the next generation. To avoid any inconvenience now, send the bill to our children. At least the Cadillac driver admitted that there is a problem. He just decided to defer payment.

And then there are those who try to make us believe we can have it both ways, that there is an infinite amount of resources on planet Earth for us and for our children. Two weeks after my trip to the emissions testing station, an article appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying the White House set down new air pollution rules "that will make it easier for older power plants, manufacturers and refineries to expand without being forced to add expensive pollution controls." Although "power plant emissions have been linked to serious illness and premature deaths," a spokesperson for business was quoted in the same article as saying the idea that easing regulations will harm the environment is "nonsense." If there is no cost, no one has to pay.

In a recent issue of Public Employee magazine, Martin Sheen, who plays the president in television's "West Wing," was asked what he considered his primary concern. His answer was unequivocal: "the environment ... our children are going to have to pay for their children's future -- if we don't start cleaning up our rivers and our air."

Do you still want that waiver? If you do, then pick up some masks for your kids. And your grandchildren, while you're at it.

(Pankratz is a marriage and family therapist at Catholic Charities, Milwaukee regional office.)