If the 50th anniversary of the nation's first automobile smog bill
hasn't been overly memorialized, well, we're not surprised. Between
emissions regulations, safety oversight, insurance premiums and OPEC,
the law enacted in April of 1960 was the first, and maybe most
important, factor in ushering the almost 20 years of low-performance
Seventies and Eighties.
With the privilege of hindsight, however, we can be more charitable.
Detroit was ludicrously slow to adapt, but the imports were quicker
(although Germany had some impressively emissions emasculated cars well
through the Eighties), and ultimately, emissions regulations helped
drive innovation and competition, until 50 years later, we're finally
starting to see alternatives to pure gas power (again).
Okay, so that's not a particularly impressive timeline, but it's an
excuse to look back at the events leading up to 1960, when car exhaust
first became regulated.
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Re: 1960: The Smog War Begins
