Decaffeinated

See the Wall Street Journal piece by Holman Jenkins here.

Excerpt:

Take last month's fuel-economy legislation, deemed "a nice little Christmas present" for the American people by Nancy Pelosi. President Bush wore himself out singing the bill's praises. Mr. Obama, who has been hell on the auto makers, practically called it America's salvation. But its only redeeming feature is that it's unlikely ever to take effect, at least in current form.

We won't try to list all the built-in fudge factors. No two companies, or even vehicles, will have to meet the same mileage target. Domestic auto makers will be favored over foreign ones, "trucks" over "cars." Biofuel-ready vehicles will receive additional credit, even if they never see a drop of biofuel. Etc.

And lobbyists will surely descend on Washington during the long years before implementation begins, changing the rules beyond recognition, especially if gasoline prices drop. Don't be surprised if the courts, and even Congress itself, also ultimately balk at a program that treats each auto maker differently, while relying on the Gosplan-like discretion of federal regulators somehow to conjure into being a new national fleet that averages 35 mpg, a 40% increase, by 2020.

What's more, Detroit could always just ignore the rules and pay the fines as Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen have done for years.

Don't get us wrong. No mileage rules designed by Congress would ever have the slightest impact on global warming or bring any nearer to thee the false god of "energy independence."