I was surprised that good-old-oil-boy George W. was promoting hybrid technology in the energy bill.  Has he greened up a bit?  Or is this simply a token gesture, meant to obscure the immense subsidies to oil business?

But perhaps W is even more devious than I had imagined.  Perhaps he knew that many new "hybrids" are not providing better gas mileage at all - just increased power.  GM’s hybrids are a sham.  Even Honda is a culprit.  The Union of Concerned Scientists has a whole Hybrid Center which details these problems.  The government incentives for buying hybrids still apply, whether you are trying to save the planet, or simply want to get from 0 to 60 quicker.

This is reminiscent of Bush’s 2003 push for a hydrogen economy, which sounds like a good way to go green until you realize hydrogen is currently manufactured mainly from - yep - natural gas.

Nobody should be fooled into thinking that George W. isn’t the least envrionmentally responsible President we’ve seen.