I was listening to NPR this morning, and they were talking about the Leviathan energy bill oozing its way through congress. Apparently one of the main sticking points right now is the single direct-to-consumer subsidy - a tax break on hybrid vehicles. It's in the Senate version and not the House. Predictably, the oil industry and automobile manufacturers that don't produce hybrid vehicles are against it.
So, apparently, a compromise is in the works -- to provide a tax break for hybrid vehicles that only improve fuel efficiency a little bit. Those which get too many miles per gallon won't have a tax break.
In other words, the "compromise" would encourage hybrid manufacturers to produce hybrids which get shittier fuel efficiency.
You can't make this stuff up.
