If you’ve been waiting for the Democratic Congress to take the obvious step toward tougher automobile emissions standards, you can wait a little longer. No they have not been vetoed by the Bush administration they have been slowed by a fellow Democrat – old-school Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich), who represents everything that’s wrong with provincial, old-school, pork-barrel politics.

Congressman Dingell, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, first took a seat in Congress way back in 1955 and has been faithfully defending his Detroit auto industry constituency ever since. Recently Dingell’s committee created a draft of an energy bill designed to limit states such as California from instituting tougher emissions guidelines than the Feds while cloaking the restriction in mpg standards that called for 36 miles per gallon for passenger cars after 2021 and 30 mpg for trucks after 2024. Not exactly a rush to change.

Dingell is quoted as saying that “vast gridlock” would ensue if automakers have to comply with differing state and federal emissions guidelines. Tough! The gridlock we are experiencing now is choking our environment and handing innovative foreign automakers, like Honda, our proverbial lunch. Fortunately Speaker Nancy Pelosi drop-kicked the bill back to the committee for revisions. The real question is why Pelosi gave a Rep from that black-hole of emissions and incompetance, Detroit, the committee chair in the first place. Seniority, politics as usual and government by compromise are are not the mandate the Democratic party should be following.

By dragging their feet on emissions standards Congress is endangering our national security, ignoring the obvious environmental threats and protecting an American auto industry that is fast-tracking its own extinction by fighting the transition to more fuel efficient technologies.

The Senate has their own plan which is tougher viewed even more negatively bythe auto industry which will fight it tooth and nail.

Go to Congress.org and let your reps know how you feel, that’s supposed to be how democracy works.