U.S. ‘stuck in reverse’ on fuel economy

[jpak]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17344368

While Congress and the Bush administration debate how to improve fuel economy in automobiles, a new study says the United States is “stuck in reverse” when it comes to offering consumers a wide selection of fuel-efficient vehicles.

The research from the Civil Society Institute, a not-for-profit think tank that focuses on energy and ecological issues, shows a growing “fuel-efficient car gap.”

CSI found that the number of vehicle models sold in the United States that achieve combined gas mileage of at least 40 miles per gallon actually has dropped from five in 2005 to just two in 2007 — the Honda Civic hybrid and the Toyota Prius hybrid.

Overseas, primarily in Europe, there are 113 vehicles for sale that get a combined 40 mpg, up from 86 in 2005. Combined gas mileage is the average of a vehicle’s city and highway mpg numbers.

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[Warren Stupidity]

1. A Nation of Fat Spoiled Idiots. A Nation of Cowards.

We can't fit our big fat asses into small cars. We need our SUVs. We want our supersized fries. We are too scared of everything to say no to turning our 'land of the free' into one vast detention center. My how we have changed over the last 30 years. Let's build some more walls, put electronic strip search machines into every public space, cameras everywhere, and scurry our fearful fat asses from safe point to safe point in our faux military vehicles, avoiding all contact with strangers, and always obeying authority. Back home we can feel better as we snoozily watch Jack Bauer on our Big Ass TVs torture and kill the boogeymen and save us from DEATH on our oversized couches with our frozen diet dinners.