Gas guzzlers exempted by Bush administration

Living in West Texas, where people almost have to drive long distances regularly (like it or not), but where there is also a real old-fashioned "big cars and pickups 'cause we've got our own wells" mentality, we regularly see massive gas guzzlers on the road. The most notorious though not the most ubiquitous is the Hummer, the ridiculous civilian version of the military Humvee (which the Bush/Rumsfeld DoD is too cheap to armor adequately for Iraq service).

With gas prices over $3, you'd think that even the border-watching, lawnchair-overflowing, Minutemen-promoting, channel-surfing civilian Rambos would think about a more energy-efficient car. But why should they? The Bush administration is about to exempt Humvees from efficiency requirements.

And why wouldn't they? Being in the oil business, the last thing the Bush family wants is for people to use less gas (or for the Saudis to drop the price). It's still boom-time for the oil companies.