Bush Says Poo Poo to Pesky Air Quality Laws

A quick little rant.

This irritates me. Specifically:

"He also directed the Environmental Protection Agency to use its authority to temporarily waive air quality laws in states if that would relieve a local gasoline supply shortage."

I don't mean to appear hysterical, but I'm drawing some strong correlations between the administration's response to the 9/11 attacks (suspend civil liberties) and response to the gas prices (suspend environmental standards). Aren't there better ways to deal? If we're really that concerned about the SUV drivers and those who insist on living so far from their place of work, let's lift the federal gas tax for awhile. I understand that the increased cost of transportation of goods will trickle down to the consumers, but I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for these massive fuel consumers. I think it's time to stop doing stupid shit (like waiving air quality laws) and start doing smart shit (use ethanol or other alternative fuels, promote hybrids etc.).

That is all. Thank you.