The trouble with false gods. (Dudder).(California to set environmental guidelines for the auto...

Politics is the art of making the possible difficult, and the impossible law. And in the case of California's decree that automakers must reduce [CO.sub.2] emissions 10% by 2009, it also has the perverse effect of forestalling any innovation before that time. The only known way to reduce [CO.sub.2] emissions is to decrease fuel consumption. Since there is a one-to-one relationship between the two, a 10% reduction in [CO.sub.2] emissions requires a 10% improvement in fuel efficiency. So any fuel economy improvements an automaker makes before the law goes into effect will work again