Greg_W

People said we couldn't fly to the moon, too, asswad.

Depends on what they come out with. Haven't made up my mind yet; need more study. One thing I have done, personally, for National Security is recommend that Dr. Flash Amazing be remanded to a Mexican jail for the duration of the War on Terror. Wrote Mr. Rumsfeld this morning.

...YET.

Who are you to define what my needs are? Even Iain sees government intervention in this arena as a bad thing. Don't really understand you here. If the manufacturers (i.e., the market) planned to implement higher fuel-efficiency standards than the government required, wouldn't that mean they ARE regulating themselves for the "better"? I believe in profiling, it only makes sense. However, I do not believe in throwing away personal freedoms in the name of creating a "safe society". I think you are confusing profiling and unlawful seizure or incarceration.

Yeah, Iain, but shouldn't that be their choice? What is your alternative? Should people only be allowed to purchase certain types of vehicles based on some perceived "need"? I don't "need" a pickup all the time, but it is handy when I do and I feel safer driving it than some little car. I understand what you are saying, but I wonder what the solution is.

AlpineK - I understand, but you can write it off as a business expense (covered by your overhead markup). What about individuals? What is the cost comparison with regular diesel?

Iain, I care about the air we breathe, but you cannot change the way people think, or act, by passing laws. We cannot just enact policy with the attitude that "individual freedoms be damned" no matter what the cause. I am all for more fuel-efficient engines, but I still want to be able to buy what I want. When they figure out how to bring down the price of bio-diesel I would buy it (when I buy a diesel truck). Unfortunately for the anti-fossil fuel people, the market still demands the internal combustion engine, large or small. Until these hybrid engines are perfected and made large enough to replace the V-8 engines currently offered in today's light trucks, they will remain small potatoes. It is the job of the automakers to present an attractive product, not the government.

Get real, here, Matt. Do you really think that this would happen? You've been around a little longer than I have; how many government programs/agencies do you know that have ramped up and then voluntarily reduced themselves? It does not happen that way. I refuse to "get over" the fact that government has too large of a say in my daily decisions/life. If you get over it, you have given in and accepted their mastery; I will not do that.

So what do you do, Iain? LEGISLATE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND THINKING? Give me a break.

Don't remember the numbers, but our dependence on MidEast oil is less than one would think; less than 20%. We are buying more oil from South America and Siberia is a huge untapped resource.

My problem with this statement is: who's criteria do we follow? Do we follow Al Gore and eliminate the internal combustion engine, force high energy-use industries to change (example: aluminum & steel)? Who decides what is enough? Who tells me what I can and cannot do, buy, use, et cetera?

Whatever, nice pics.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! NIIIIIICCCCEEEE!!!

DFA = that little rat-faced monkey thing that hung out with Jabba the Hut.

Okay, so I'M getting bitchy as the Holiday approaches. Point taken, Mattp. I've noticed that Mattp is much like Yoda in his influence on cc.com. Yoda always seems to see through the issues and bring balance to the force and stabilize the other Jedi. Mattp kind of has this affect on the .com, me in particular. Cheers to you, Matt!! Merry Christmas

Go fuck yourself, DFA. You're really getting bitchy as the Holiday approaches. Maybe you should ask mommy to give you some "adult" eggnog instead of the Nestle Quik kind she's been giving you with your cookies after school.

Wasn't that you at the last Rope Up? Referring to the contents of Charlie's cooler?

You are able to be successful because you are white, RedMonk. If you weren't, it would be sooooo much harder for you in "White America" (or Canada). Your color is all the privelege that you need to succeed in this world. Roll your eyes nice and big on that one. Kudos to you, young squab. I applaud your hard work.

Actually, you ignorant dipshit, the NRA is still THE MOST EFFECTIVE LOBBY in Washington, D.C. So, don't way we're "ineffectual"; we are a powerful lobby that DOES have an affect. No organization is perfect, granted, but your statements are incorrect (obviously based on your lack of knowledge). You don't know what you are talking about and you are putting words into Trask's post that were not there by your extremely negative spin. For Christmas I'm buying you an extra large glass of SHUT-THE-FUCK-UP!! Merry Christmas. Greg W

Well, as long as you are fighting for a worthy cause.

Yeah, The Foreign Service is knocking down my door.

I have trouble believing this; please explain further. Also, isn't CO2 a small (less than 5%) percentage of "greenhouse gases"? Isn't water vapor the number one greenhouse gas? Regarding you not liking my logic, I don't care. It's my opinion, that's all. Fuck you if you don't like it, I didn't ask you to.

In light of that, Dru, I suggest you do all you can to avoid supporting this wasteful practice. Stay in Canada.

Mattp - The point I was trying to make was that I see these scientists (and all who believe that we are super-responsible for climate change) are arrogant to think that humans can so damage such an incredibly diverse, massive, intricate, complex system as the Earth. Given that the same people who say the earth is hundreds of millions of years old rely on data taken over such a small expanse of time, and that humans, who have been here for an even smaller expanse of time, could cause such a sharp change. Just my thoughts on it.

Point taken, Freeclimb9. I don't disagree that climate change is occurring. My point is that climate change has always been occurring on Earth; one way or another. It's a circle of life thing (remember "The Lion King"?).