EPA Slows the Roll of Coal

Exhaust Has Exhausted Its Welcome With the EPA

In this Article

• EPA Blows the Whistle on Practice of Rolling Coal
• Clean Air Act Cited
• Curbing Carbon Emissions
• The Voices of Reason

The Environmental Protection Agency has put their foot down when it comes to pickup truck drivers putting their feet down on the gas and "rolling coal" from exhausts or stacks. You've probably seen the phenomenon in action and, if not, you've no doubt smelled it.

EPA Blows the Whistle on Practice of Rolling Coal

Modifications are a staple of the truck world, with drivers adding parts and accessories like lift kits and body armor. Diesel pickups rigged to expel bigger plumes of blacker exhaust are being targeted by environmentalists and now they've been deemed illegal by the EPA.

The news has pickup truck drivers fuming.

Clean Air Act Cited

EPA press secretary Liz Purchia recently stated that rolling coal violates emissions standards and is illegal. She cited sections of the air enforcement page on their website that read: "It is a violation of the Clean Air Act to manufacture, sell, or install a part for a motor vehicle that bypasses, defeats, or renders inoperative any emission control device."

Curbing Carbon Emissions

It's not surprising how polarizing the issue is considering that drivers are emitting raw diesel fuel. If coal isn't public enemy number one, it's still high up on the Most Wanted list. While there's a consensus that carbon emissions need to be curbed, there's also a backlash against the war on coal.

A YouTube search turns up videos of Priuses, bicyclists, and pedestrians having dark fumes belched on them from pickups. Some drivers laugh after they punch dark clouds of unburned fuel into the air. Pickups are sporting stickers that read "Prius Repellent" and there's a growing movement championing the practice.

The Voices of Reason

But there are also voices of reason like Gale Banks, pointing out how pointless and inefficient rolling coal is. Banks asks "Why do you want to take fuel and put it in the air?" He notes that the industry has made strides in trying to comply with emissions testing that is growing more stringent. Rolling coal flies in the face of these advancements.