DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

David Lazarus of the SF Chronicle agrees with my assessment of the recent CAFE mileage-standards revision in the Senate:

“This is a good day for American consumers and the environment, since we finally have gotten on the right path to better fuel economy,” said California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, saw things differently. “This is not a win, nor is it a step forward for fuel economy, consumers or the environment,” she said.

Claybrook was former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Read more of her comments on the new CAFE standards.

There’s more of the Lazarus piece that’s worth reading:

Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group, called the goals of HR6 [a more aggressive version of the bill that finally passed] “wildly extreme,” and said such ambitious fuel-efficiency standards “would eliminate some of the most popular vehicles on the road today and devastate both consumer choice and the auto industry.”

Probably not. What they’d do is compel Detroit to produce vehicles that reflect this nation’s increasingly precarious energy security and send a message to overseas oil producers that we no longer intend to dance to their tune.

Significantly higher fuel-efficiency requirements would also prompt engineers in Detroit and in universities nationwide to do what this country has always done better than all other countries — innovate.

In more positive news about reducing oil consumption, Google .org (the philanthropic arm of Google, Inc) has given $1 million in grants to promote use of plug-in hybrids. Here are the grant recipients.

Google.org has pledged another $10M to to fund development, adoption and commercialization of plug-ins, fully electric cars and related vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.

Excerpt from a campaign update from my favorite eco-charity, the Union of Concerned Scientists:

Late last night the Union of Concerned Scientists and our allies won a major victory on fuel economy! Thanks in part to your numerous emails and phone calls, the Senate voted yesterday to substantially increase the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard of America’s cars and trucks for the first time in over 30 years — setting a target of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

I’m all for raising CAFE standards, but this sounds like a pretty feeble compromise. I drove a car in 2004 — nearly 3 full years ago — that measured 53.9 mpg over a 4-5 hour commute. Yet in 13 more years, the best average our politicians are willing to demand is 35 mpg?

I suppose what makes this newsworthy is, as noted above, that the numbers have moved at all. The original CAFE standards were proposed in 1975 (when the average fleet mileage was apparently a dismal 14 mpg) and never amended, except for a period in the late 1980s when mileage minimums were lowered. Detroit, you go girl!

Answering the call (note: requires login) for slogan suggestions for deadelephant.org, I humbly submit:

(Click here if it doesn’t make sense.)

Update 2006-10-13: This Foley Family Values bumper sticker design is now available as a downloadable PDF; click the image.

I sort of hate to kick the GOP while they’re down… but on the other hand, what a pack of assholes.

Check out deadelephant.org for a stack of great bumper stickers that say what you’ve been thinking for the past six years. Print them at home for $nada or buy the real thing for $cheap.

The cover of the weekend’s Parade Magazine asks, “Who is the world’s worst dictator?”

I scanned the collage of headshots for George W. Bush. True story.

(No, I don’t believe he’s as bad as the 10 guys in the article. He’s only imprisoned and tortured a few dozen people, most of whom were not even US citizens. He will need to work much harder to make next year’s lineup.)

In related news, I really enjoyed Molly Ivins’ editorial, I will not support Hillary Clinton for president (mirrors) , especially this part:

The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush’s tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do “whatever it takes” to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?