A Little Help Here?
OK, somebody explain this to me.
President Obama is about to set new emissions standards for American cars. SUVs and big vehicles will become obsolete, and everyone will have to drive around in those stupid little "smart" cars.
Enviromental types cheer. We're saved!
On the other hand:
The Minnesota state legislature just voted to make booster seats mandatory for all children up to age 8.
I believe the number of booster seats you can fit into a "smart" car is zero. DIH drives a Subaru Outback and she can do three, tops.
This means:
In Minnesota at least, entire fleets of "smart" cars will be required to transport one soccer team to practice.
Which means at best a break-even scenario on that plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Plus ticking off anyone over 5'2" who has to cram himself into a "smart" car. And believe me, this is a tall state (not enough Italians in the gene pool, I guess).
Result: more pollution, more ticked-off drivers, more cranky kids who resent being treated like their baby brothers as they are strapped into booster seats. More tempers flaring on the soccer field. More irate parents getting in the coach's face, more kids "accidentally" cleating each other...
Oh, dear. The Beautiful Game is about to get very ugly.
Thank you, DFLers!
President Obama is about to set new emissions standards for American cars. SUVs and big vehicles will become obsolete, and everyone will have to drive around in those stupid little "smart" cars.
Enviromental types cheer. We're saved!
On the other hand:
The Minnesota state legislature just voted to make booster seats mandatory for all children up to age 8.
I believe the number of booster seats you can fit into a "smart" car is zero. DIH drives a Subaru Outback and she can do three, tops.
This means:
In Minnesota at least, entire fleets of "smart" cars will be required to transport one soccer team to practice.
Which means at best a break-even scenario on that plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Plus ticking off anyone over 5'2" who has to cram himself into a "smart" car. And believe me, this is a tall state (not enough Italians in the gene pool, I guess).
Result: more pollution, more ticked-off drivers, more cranky kids who resent being treated like their baby brothers as they are strapped into booster seats. More tempers flaring on the soccer field. More irate parents getting in the coach's face, more kids "accidentally" cleating each other...
Oh, dear. The Beautiful Game is about to get very ugly.
Thank you, DFLers!
Liberal loons: Imaginary problems; unworkable solutions.
ReplyDeleteInstapundit: "With a stroke of the pen, Obama imposed higher fuel-economy standards on America. The standards can only be met by making the average car smaller and lighter than consumers prefer. The inevitable result is that thousands of innocent Americans, possibly tens of thousands, will die painful and sometimes fiery deaths, while many thousands more will be seriously injured. This prospect apparently gave Obama no pause whatsoever. He has never so much as hinted that he sees a moral dimension in the trade-off between human life and reduced carbon emissions.
"On the other hand, Obama sees the brief and physically harmless discomfort of three terrorists as posing a moral crisis of almost unparalleled dimension, necessitating endless apology and hand-wringing. The contrast in Obama's priorities is striking, to say the least. I would submit that this is what happens when you substitute preening for intelligent policy-making."
And what about people like me who drive a "Bus" (12 Passenger Van)? My mile/person/gallon when loaded with family is waaaay better than any stinkin' clown car! I guess we'll have to take 3 or 4 cars to go anywhere as a family; hmmm my oldest is twelve...who needs a drivers license, those clown cars are more like a go cart anyways.
ReplyDelete~ Bible Babe
Car, yes. I have the Subaru Forester, which is mostly like the Outback but permits someone of my extreme height the option of not having a back spasm when entering/exiting the vehicle. I do appreciate environmentally-aware vehicles, but I also know that we are not all cookie cutter shapes, nor cookie cutter needs.
ReplyDeleteCar makers will just have to create vehicles that meet both demand and emission standards. Think sprinter vans - they can haul like 12 people and get 35-40 mpg. Sure they are ugly now, but I'm sure will evolve with time.
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm RAnn and I'd like to invite you to participate in Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. Sunday Snippets is a chance for Catholic bloggers to share thier best with other Catholic bloggers. Check out this week's host post at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2009/06/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival.html. For a weekly reminder to post, subscribe to our yahoogroup at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunday_snippets/?yguid=1269802
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