No more thick plumes of black smoke. No more “Prius repellent.”
New Jersey just banned it. The practice, which goes by the term of “coal rolling,” is when diesel-powered vehicles are modified in order to blow thick plumes of black smoke into the air when they accelerate. The pollutants are often exhausted through large smokestacks specially fixed to the vehicles, often times pickup trucks.
An online culture that is largely anti-environmental, anti-Prius hybrid car and anti-climate change legislation surrounds the practice.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie -- a Republican and probable candidate for U.S. president -- sided with the state's Democratic legislature Monday by signing a bill forbidding the practice. Now, those who flout the law could be fined $5,000 in the Garden State.
“Coal rolling increases air pollution in New Jersey and creates unsafe driving conditions on New Jersey’s already congested roadways,” said Assemblyman Tim Eustace, D-Bergen, in a statement. “By banning coal rolling, this law will build upon a history of environmental protection in our state.”
Eustace’s office said those who engage in the practice often do it to pollute, harass pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers of smaller cars (read Prius).
Slate quoted one seller of the equipment this way who touched on the mindset of those who “roll coal:”
“I run into a lot of people that really don’t like Obama at all,” said one seller of stack kits from Wisconsin. “If he’s into the environment, if he’s into this or that, we’re not. I hear a lot of that. To get a single stack on my truck—that’s my way of giving them the finger. You want clean air and a tiny carbon footprint? Well, screw you.”