LOSING PROPOSITION: THE CHEVY VOLT

From Autoblog on January 2, 2013:

Automotive dealerships are accustomed to training sales and service professionals when new models arrive, but the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt – and its pricey additional tool and equipment costs – is frustrating some low-volume retailers to the point of dropping the model from the showroom. A recent report says that a few discontented dealers have stopped carrying the innovative sedan because General Motors is requiring a more significant investment in the near future, and the specialized costs (in excess of $5,000) aren't offset by the model's slow sales at those establishments....

Courtesy of the Obama administration, another epic fail.

Most automotive mechanics have to buy their own specialized tools although, on some occasions, the dealership will furnish certain tools and diagnostic equipment.  When the costs of those tools and diagnostic equipment soar while, at the same time, sales figures for particular car models are soft, the consumer will be unable to get his vehicle serviced or will have have to pay a huge repair bill.  Yet another blow to our nation's economy!

THE EPA AS DUST POLICE

You can't make this stuff up!

According to Reuters, EPA wants farmers to rein in the amount of dust floating in the air in the American countryside.

The EPA plans to issue the regulations in the fall of 2011. Details of those regulations and the method of enforcement remain unknown.

Read the rest here at Always On Watch.

THE 1970 EARTH DAY PREDICTIONS

From I Hate the Media and contains some real gems of lunacy:

GREENIE MADNESS

More Greenie madness:

Pet dogs as bad for planet as driving 4x4s, book claims

Owners should consider doing without, downsizing or even eating their pets to help save the planet, according to a new book.

It claims that the carbon footprint left by domesticated animals is out of proportion to the size of their paws.

A medium-sized dog has the same impact as a Toyota Land Cruiser driven 6,000 miles a year, while a cat is equivalent to a Volkswagen Golf.

[...]

Mr Vale, an architect who specialises in sustainable living, said: "There are no recipes in the book. We're not actually saying it is time to eat the dog.

"We're just saying that we need to think about and know the (ecological) impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted."

He explained that sustainability issues require us to make choices which are "as difficult as eating your dog".

Greenie maniacs are killjoys.

Lawsuit Closes Chevron Refinery, Costs 1,000 Jobs

More than 1,000 construction workers will lose their jobs — at least temporarily — at the end of this month as the result of a decision by Contra Costa County (Calif.) Superior Judge Barbara Zuniga.

Ironically, the major project employing these people was designed to increase efficiency and reduce emissions at Chevron Corporation’s Richmond (Calif.) Refinery.

Read more about it and watch a short video about it here.

NY AG Cuomo Tries to ‘FOIL’ Blogger’s Efforts

When New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent an accusatory letter (pdf) to Chevron CEO David J. O’Reilly May 4, he had to know the effort would position him squarely alongside Philadelphia trial lawyers and radical environmentalists associated with an Ecuadoran environmental group. At least, that’s what I surmised in a post June 2. Today, I have more reason to believe I’m right, thanks to a reply I received in response to my recent Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. It's all right here!

‘Environmental Radicals’ Obama’s Achilles Heel

President Barack Obama has put America into the hands of “environmental radicals.” It is only a matter of time before “his vast popularity runs aground on his energy policies,” according to Jon Basil Utley, writing in Reason magazine.

“In the name of saving the planet from global warming, [Obama] has delayed new oil drilling, an action that will have major political repercussions once the world economy recovers. Instead of using some of the stimulus billions to produce more gas and oil, Obama’s appointees dream of ‘renewable’ energy derived from corn, wind, sunshine, and even grass,” Mr. Utley says in his article.

Read more about this writer's reasonable -- pun intended -- point of view here.