A small victory for those of us that like oxygen

The Supreme Court ruled against one of the many ways that Bush has been trying to kill us off one by one. He didn't think that the Environmental Protection Agency had the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions from cars under the Clean Air Act. Apparently, he didn't seem to think that it had anything to do with actually making sure the air is clean. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens rejected the administration's argument that it lacked the power to regulate such emissions. He said the EPA's decision was "arbitrary, capricious or otherwise not in accordance with law." He also said that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "has offered no reasoned explanation" for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change. Well, ha!

Bush has been against these regulations because they are bad for business. I'll tell you what is bad for me -- carbon dioxide. But let's be realistic, a great way to lower carbon dioxide emissions is to have cars that have better fuel efficiency. But better fuel efficiency isn't necessarily bad for the economy. Since the price of gas has been on the increase, the sales of large trucks and SUVs have been on the decline. So what have car companies done about it? They've been increasing the fuel efficiency of these vehicles. In fact, their gas mileage has increased by a higher percentage than that of sedans and compact cars. These smaller cars still get better gas mileage overall, but it proves that there is little reason for cars to get the crappy gas mileage that they do. The technology exists. We need to force car companies to use it. And I think the price of gas will probably be a leading factor in increased fuel efficiency. I'll take it any way I can get it.

The big buzz lately has been about hybrid cars. Let's face it; the increased fuel efficiency doesn't justify the huge jump in price. When most people only keep a new car for a few years, you'd have to do a lot of driving to save money on fuel. The gas mileage isn't that much better and I imagine the maintenance of these cars costs more. What you are really paying for is a warm and fuzzy feeling. Until car companies can make hybrid cars a better value, they will remain a novelty. I was reading the consumer reports a few weeks ago, and the Subaru SUV gets better gas mileage than a hybrid SUV and it costs less. I'm all about feeling warm and fuzzy but I'd buy the Subaru over the hybrid.

So what the Supreme Court did today was a small step in the right direction. Of course they can't dictate exactly how the EPA has to it do from here. That is up to the EPA and all of Bush's drones.

tags: Bush EPA Massachusetts v. EPA Supreme Court fuel efficiency carbon dioxide greenhouse gasses