Dems Sniffing Ethanol In New Investigation?

As reported here Sunday, Gov. Schwarzenegger has purchased over 1,100 ethanol-capable cars in his drive to "green up" California -- but because there's only one ethanol station in the entire state, nary a drop of ethanol has touched their tanks, resulting in more greenhouse gases and big embarrassment for the Gov.

So, of course, the Dems are standing ready to take a serious situation that needs attention and blow it ridiculously out of proportion because it gives them an opportunity to attack a corporation. This has been the Merc News' story since day one, and it continues to report:

A state Senate hearing not only confirmed Wednesday that the governor's administration purchased a fleet of alternative fuel vehicles that have yet to burn anything but gasoline, but lawmakers also suggested the vehicles were purchased to benefit a specific automaker that has a cozy relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: General Motors.

Auto manufacturers and state officials confirmed that the contract specifications for the fleet purchases were dramatically changed two years ago in such a way that only GM cars met the requirements.

"What they did was create a sole-source contract," said Sen. Dean Florez, D-Bakersfield, who led up the three-hour hearing in the Capitol. "This is not about good public policy. This is not about being green. It's about politics that gave GM an edge."

Typical Dem hatred and mistrust of corporations -- unless its their corporate buddies. Obfuscating the real problem here, which is green stupidity, not old-time political hackery, the Dems are doing what always happens in politics: creating so much smoke, so much rhetoric, so many non-issue bunny trails, that the real problem is never addressed.

It does turn out that GM had the only cars that would meet the bid requirements, but that's not a bad thing. Here are the requirements: "Flex-fuel" capability was an option, being able to burn E85 fuel was a must, and here's the kicker: the vehicles had to be certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB, a pretty funny acronym) so they could be sold in California.

Only the GM cars had the CARB certification.

The gov purchased cars that basically couldn't be fueled in California, which is stupid. The Dem response is to criticize him for not buying cars that can't be bought in California, which is beyond stupid.

(The Merc News really failed on this story because it looked at GM's contributions to the Gov as "evidence" in support of the Dems, but failed to report on Ford's, Chrysler's and the Japanese auto makers' contributions. Very shoddy reporting.)