{list of destructive actions that will serve no purpose nor conserve anything}

Serious question. At what point did conservatism transition from actual attempts to conserve things into simple-minded bullying behavior? Or was it always thus?

Discuss.

And why reinvent the wheel? Renault, Citroen, VW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, etc, all have a range of proven diesel engines.

The issues are more about labour union objections, bureaucratic obstacles, taxation, NIH syndrome, and dirty US diesel fuel(this may have changed).

As for the US corn-based ethanol program, it should be scrapped immediately. It is a taxpayer funded boondoggle, with highly dubious environmental credentials. If you want to ethanol as a fuel, buy sugarcane-derived ethanol from Brazil.

Diesel engine cars are a great idea. Down here in the deep south diesel pumps are almost everywhere gas pumps are. The problem is not avilability of real diesel (not biocrud), but the EPA over-regulating stuff.

Ford used to have the 7.3 liter diesel in the F250 and F350 trucks. They were wonderful engines that rarely gave problems. They have more than plenty of toque and useful pulling power. However, Ford had to scrap that engine becuase of ecofascist regulations in Washington. The scrapping of that engine that worked well and di not need a replacement led to the 6.0 Powerstroke diesel which was nothing more than a large piece of shit under the hood of a truck. This thing was always giving problems. My brother who was a auto tech at a local Ford dealership said that the 6.0 liter engines that Ford was forced through ecofascism to come up with, gave more problems in one months time than all of the 7.3 liter engines that was ever made combined.

Eventually Fird scrapped this useless husl of an engine and developed an all new 6.4 liter Powerstroke diesel. So far it has proven worthy.

The point of this story is that Ford lost uncounted millions of dollars and thousands of hours to this endeavor simply because some wackjob ecofascist in washington wans to redistribute wealth and uses the name of the environment to do it. Theye should be put in solitary confinement for life in antarctica with only a candle to keep them warm.

Ecofacsist regulations have caused more probems than anything else. We should regulate the regulators. In other words, fire them, reverse their regulations and live life.

One reason the big three car companies, which used to dominate the US market, no longer do so, is because their mileage is/was so bloody awful.

One reason so many Americans drive Asian and European cars(and Chrysler is owned by FIAT) is that they get much better mileage.

The other issue is that many Americans seem to think they have a constitutional, or Dog-given, right to an unending supply of cheap petrol/benzine/gasoline. If that were ever true, it is now impossible, due to the increased resource demand caused by the economic rise of India and China.

You will either have to improve fuel efficiency, or accept drastically more expensive fuel. We have basically run out of cheap, easily-extractable, oil. There is more out there, but it is much harder/more expensive to get at. The chances of oil going below $75-90/barrel in the future is kinda low.

You could try buying diesel-engined cars, but when I lived in the USA, it was quite difficult to find diesel pumps. I am not sure of the exact figures, but diesel cars make up some 50% of new car sales in Europe. Because it makes sense.

There is an interesting point about overtaxing or over-regulating a commodity: it will find its place in a black market. So the light bulb mafia might be coming. Wolframistsas.

Here in Portland we do have pizza delivery by bicycle…they have cute little wagons. It’s just downtown though.

a prominent politician flat out got away with murdering a cyclist and was defended in the press while the cyclist was vilified;

He was defended because the cyclist was a drunken lunatic who was attacking him[1] at the time. Or do you think he should have sat there so as to more clearly make himself and his wife victims?

Calling it a murder is flat out wrong, unless you want to claim it as a death during the commission of another crime[2]. But in that case, you run into the problem of trying to charge someone for murdering himself.

[1] For those who don’t know the story, it is important to note that the car was a convertible with the top down.

[2] IIRC, aggravated assault is on the list of crimes where if a death is a reasonable outcome and a death occurs, (through any cause), the death is a 1st degree murder.

Greg Laden thinks you’re a sick puppy. That’s cruel. Your facts make me gasp and stretch my eyes but they’re no worse than some of your critics on this page who use the unconvincing “but everybody knows that’s not true” argument. From this side of the Atlantic it seems that all Americans are brainwashed by TV. It’s nice to meet someone with different ideas, VERY different but…

Here in South Africa Nissan has the X-trail, a SUV with incredible off road capability. Crosses any terrain as long as one wheel has grip.