One size fits all

I'll second Kevin Drum's note: raising the gasoline tax will not be nearly as effective at lowering consumption as will raising fuel economy standards. I'm no economist, but that's just intuitive sense as it would take a huge -- and politically suicidal -- increase to alter drivers' behavior to the extent it would have much of an effect on our consumption. That's just ignurant on the Post's part.

But even worse is the Post's repetition of the auto industry lobby talking points: that allowing states such as California to set their own standards would be detrimental to the ailing industry in trying to meet them and would also result in multiple standards.

Bullshit. Never have increases in fuel standards had the kind of effects these lobbyists always predict. The auto engineers take the standards and design engines and cars that meet them. Every. Time. As for multiple standards, you really think they're going to build one set of cars for California and the other states that want higher standards -- that also happen to have the most cars on the road -- and another set for, say, Idaho?

It's increasingly clear, the Post should not write about anything related to economics.