What great state offers up to $600 in emissions repairs and up to $3,500 in vehicle replacement? Nowhere but Texas! There is financial assistance for replacing your higher emissions emitting car or truck. If your vehicle fails the emissions portion of the state inspection or if your vehicle is at least 10 years old, you can apply for assistance. The AirCheckTexas program offers this assistance to aid in keeping our environment clean and to keep broken down vehicles off the road. And you can check their criteria on their website.

Reducing emissions pollution to reduce smog ozone and, in turn, protecting our stratospheric ozone is crucial for our children’s future. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, ozone-reduction strategies in Texas have decreased ozone statewide by 29% from 2000 to 2014. By comparison, the rest of the nation averaged only a 16% decrease over the same period.

So, what can you do to limit ozone formation?

• Limit driving and idling. Carpool, combine errands to make less run. Use Public transportation. Bike or walk where you can. (If you have a DWI and have lost your license, you probably bike or walk to work anyway)
• Refuel your vehicle in the late afternoon or evening and don’t top off the tank. If we refuel while the sun is up during the hot summer months, we release gasoline fumes that can react with the sunlight and other pollutants to form ozone. When we refuel after the sun has set, the gasoline fumes that are released into the air will not have the intense sunlight available to gain a photochemical reaction, so our ozone levels will be lower.
• Keep your vehicle maintained, including proper tire pressure.
• Maintain your yard equipment, including changing the oil and replacing air filters regularly on your mower. Also consider using tools without motors or even electric tools. Manual hand tools and push mowers don’t generate emissions. (So quit the gym and get a good, honest workout in your own yard)
• Don’t burn leaves or yard waste.
• Use paint and cleaning products with less to zero VOCs (volatile organic compounds)

Until next week…

Daun Thompson
Writer / Artist / Comedienne

AirCheckTexas – Comedy Defensive Driving.com

Category: Uncategorized

Author: Daun Thompson

Daun Thompson has spent years acting in both film and theatre which has been paramount in launching her onto the comedy stage (incidentally, without a helmet, resulting in a nasty concussion). Being a funny girl is a full time job. A job that she hopes that one day will come with dental benefits and a 401K. Unlike her work, she is biodegradable, yet flame retardant. And gentle to the touch. Her goal in life??? For strangers to approach her and ask "Didn't you used to be somebody?" In the late 1980's she cut her teeth at the Velveeta Room on 6th Street in Austin, Texas ... the original room with the stripper pole. From there, she moved to northern California and worked with many comedy icons, like Mitch Hedberg, Marc Maron, Colin Quinn, Vic Dunlop, Huck Flyn, Michael Mancini, Doug Ferrari, Shang and Brian Posehn. Daun has been a licensed driver safety instructor and trainer with Comedy Defensive Driving for over 9 years. Her knowledge of driving safety laws keeps her readers informed and engaged with her blog adventures. She still continues to do stand-up comedy, sometimes in a reclining position...just to be different.