Of course, you forgot that when hydrocarbons are reduced to CO2 in
the atmosphere, this happens by combination with NoX, which produces
ozone, which is a serious pollutant in the lower atmosphere.

Not true.  In fact NoX emissions are the worst of all.  At lower levels
they combine with hydrocarbons to produce ozone.  In fact, if enough
sunlight is available the chemical reaction continually breaks apart
and puts back together the NoX molecules, this process continues
indefinitely, consuming hydrocarbons and spewing out ozone.  As plants
produce a large number of hydrocarbons, introducing NoX into the
mix will create large amounts of ozone.

At higher levels in the atmosphere where there is higher solar energy
available,
and fewer to no hydrocarbons, the reaction is quite different, instead what
is consumed is ozone itself.

NoX is mostly removed from the atmosphere by rain, creating acid
rain.

Not perhaps at ground level, however it does destroy the ozone layer in
the stratosphere.  Why do you think incidence of skin cancer is so high
now?

No, what they do is if your a shop and they think your doing this they
run a staged vehicle through your shop, and if it comes out with a punched
cat, then they give you a choice of either paying a fine or fixing it for
all
the customers they think you punched cats on.

If they keep getting reports that your still punching cats then the next
time
they run a staged vehicle through and it comes back punched, then they
don't bother giving you the option to fix the cats anymore, they just
fine you.  And what your missing is that the very reason that this is an
administrative violation, is because the state doesen't have to meet the
burden of "beyond a reasonable doubt" if you try fighting it.

This is why speeding tickets aren't misdemeanors, didn't you know that?
The very reason that the states keep them administrative violations,
rather than actual criminal actions, is because as long as the ticket isn't
a crime, the accuser (the state) isn't legally required to prove anything.

You should talk to a few people someday that have been fined for
exceeding their fishing or hunting tags and see just how much the
state had to prove.

Also with the newer vehicles that have post-cat emissions sensors,
your never going to be able to get the check engine light to turn off,
which kind of limits your ability to resell the car.

Ted

so we should have these removable and only install them in traffic jams??

How so? What do they do/cause/prevent that you object to?

If that's the case, how come they've been adopted as the heart of emission
control systems worldwide?

Yes but I'm not a shop. And on later vehicles I'd get new firmware or
go to an aftermarket programmable ECU... or you build an analog sim to
put the postcat sensor input in acceptable parms. It's a voltage or
resistance, use a pot or build a little adjustable power supply (also,
basically, a pot.) I stay away from electronic vehicles for the most
part.

That was a realistic conversation??