Bootleggers, Baptists, and Car Washes

Some politicians and do-gooders in Indiana want to ban people from washing their own cars in their own driveways.

And guess who supports it? The International Carwash Association. (ht: Debbie Schlussel)

Stop driveway carwashes, Wash. says - www.jconline.com - Journal and Courier: "Along with wild salmon and steelhead trout, the Pacific Northwest soon may have another endangered species - the driveway carwash.

Washing your car or boat in the driveway or street is a residential ritual as American as backyard barbecues. But the state of Washington is telling its local governments they must prohibit home car washing unless residents divert the wash water away from storm drains, where they say it causes water pollution. 'I understand this is something people have done for a long time,' says Bill Moore, water quality specialist with the Washington state Department of Ecology, which is requiring the ban. 'It's not something we should be doing any longer.'
...
Mark Thorsby, executive director of the International Carwash Association, the industry trade group of 25,000 commercial carwashes, said it supports the prohibition. Its members install sometimes expensive equipment to minimize water use and prevent pollution, he said. Because of that, commercial carwashes wouldn't be affected by the proposal."