Why We Deserve Global Warming

Yesterday, in the L.A. Times, I read a story that made my blood boil. People with the initiative and the where-with-all to make their cars run on vegetable oil, thus saving themselves money and us all fumes, are being smacked down by the state government for not seeing to such things as, oh, a $300 license from the Meat and Poultry Inspection Branch to collect grease from kitchens. Oh, and road tax, God forbid these forward-thinking citizens should get away without chipping in on the road tax normally included in gas pump prices! That would mean their noble efforts might actually be rewarded. Matthew Tiffany had to shut down his Good Earth Grease Haulers because of too much red tape and fines. What was he thinking, trying to help us all convert our vehicles to help work towards a healthier planet? Dave Eck and his fryer-oil cars, why, what a little tax cheat! Even the governor got nailed for running his Hummer on Costco cooking oil (now there's an odd sentence), without paying the state 18 cents for each gallon of oil, which is apparently the law, clearly as a punishment for setting us all an example.

This ranks right up there with an article that set my teeth on edge last week, where House members were complaining about how an amendment to last year's energy bill requires their office-funded vehicles (that's right, no actual cost to them), to be switched out for more fuel-efficient cars. Two of the reps are quoted trying to explain their need to drive Chevy Tahoes, Joe L. Barton's excuse being that he's pretty sure his district in Texas doesn't mind, (I bet they don't, sadly), while California's own Diane Watson referred to questions about the issue as "idiotic" and insisted she needed her Lincoln Town Car, because she was over six feet tall.

Well, I guess I don't mind if we destroy the planet, as long as you have your leg room, honey.

This is the point in science fiction where the aliens give up, shake their heads, and just kill us all. Because we clearly don't deserve our spot in the galaxy. One step forward, five steps back.

Image courtesy of Brooklyn via Flickr