Ya'd think CA would have enough to do!

Dave Eck, a Half Moon Bay mechanic, had attracted a media spotlight with his fleet of vehicles fueled by used fryer grease from a local chowder house. So when Sacramento called, he figured officials wanted advice on promoting alternative fuels.

Not at all. The government rang to notify Eck that he was a tax cheat. He was scolded for failing to get a "diesel fuel supplier's license," reporting quarterly how many gallons of grease he burns, and paying a tax on each gallon.



Fuel dilemma Green idea"All of a sudden they nailed me for a road tax," said Eck, who drives a Hummer converted to run on vegetable oil. "I said, 'Not a problem. I'll do my part. But what do I get? At least let me into the carpool lane.' "

No such luck. The state offered Eck only a potentially large fine -- and not just for failing to pay taxes. He can also get in trouble for carting kitchen grease away from eateries without a license from the state Meat and Poultry Inspection Branch.

Or for not having at least $1 million in liability insurance, in case he spills some of the stuff. Or for not getting permission from the state Air Resources Board to burn fat in the first place.

Full Story

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vegoil6-2008may06,0,6562739.story?page=1

CA was really a cool place to live at one time.

Floyd

RE: Ya

I bailed out about 3 years ago Floyd......Sold my house in San Diego, and moved here to NM.
If they can find a way to levy a tax, or a fine, they will......

The Peoples Republic of Kalimexifornia.........

RE: Ya

no good goes unpunished here....He should have kept it on on the qt.... To bad.

Re: RE: Ya

Yup!

I knew it was just a matter of time, it's all about the money here.

RE: Re: RE: Ya

California , nuff said

RE: Re: RE: Ya

Typical Kalifornia!

Don't piss us off, as California does the rest of the country often follows!
You'll get the trickle down effect. If you know what I mean...
Mike

glad to see that california has eliminated all of the drugs, murder, theft, etc. to such a degree that they now are onto enforcing the lower crimes like using waste vegetable oil as a fuel. there must be no "real crimes" left for the law enforcers to worry about.

Did you guys see the story about the home owner that was being FORCED to cut down Redwood trees because his neighbor installed solar panels?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/02/29/redwoods.vs.solar.ap/index.html

mhb285 said:

Don't piss us off, as California does the rest of the country often follows!
You'll get the trickle down effect. If you know what I mean...
Mike

Click to expand...

Not everything...sometimes people come to their senses and don't want to follow Kalifornia.

Same gripe with the smog laws out here. A bunch of my hot rodder friends have run afoul of ARB because of "modified exhaust" or "modified induction system" on their street rods. Let's completely ignore the fact that they run cleaner than 90% of the cars on the road.
Shouldn't the point be fossil fuel conservation and cleaner emissions, no matter how you get there?

Its all about money and control...

Total BS, those guys should work on a hundred other problems before going after biodiesel

do

I found another law from there. If your car won't pass the smog and you meet the financial requirements they'll pay up to 500.00 to fix or a 1000.00 dollars to "retire" it at the local scrapper.
I wonder how many Mexico cars found their way to Ca. Wayne

RE: do

It is all about money...

I am glad NC passed a law to officially exempt homemade biodiesel (for personal use only) from all taxes.

bugei:

glad to see that california has eliminated all of the drugs, murder, theft, etc. to such a degree that they now are onto enforcing the lower crimes like using waste vegetable oil as a fuel. there must be no "real crimes" left for the law enforcers to worry about.

You Forgot GUNS on the list of things they got rid of or almost.

Thank god im going back to NC

In Illinois, last time I checked, you could have a small biodiesel operation, essentially personal use, without being bothered. Go larger and the state will want to have a few (taxing) words with you. Our governor and legislature have bankrupted Illinois. They have jacked up business fees and taxes so much that if you wanted to do a small scale biodiesel business like that guy did, it probably isn't worth the hassle. Are we the only state that has a motor fuel tax and a sales tax in addition to that?

rmgill said:

Did you guys see the story about the home owner that was being FORCED to cut down Redwood trees because his neighbor installed solar panels?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/02/29/redwoods.vs.solar.ap/index.html

Click to expand...

TIMMMMMBERRRRRRRRR! CRASH! Darn! I didn't mean for those trees to fall on your solar panels.

It got reversed. They won't have to remove the tree's....