"Seattle's Mayor Green"

Chicago-born Greg Nickels, Seattle's mayor, wants his city to set the national standard for sustainability, and to be green. Think: bicycling to work in the rain while squeezing between Softies driving BMW's while chugging Starbucks, talking on their headsets, and listening to NPR. (Softies are Microsoft workers.)  Nickels always says hello to me and gives me a pat on the back, and his programs are well-intentioned, but...His new ordinance forces all city taxicabs to be hybrid cars by 2012. But there is another ordinance that forbids a taxi that takes a fare to the airport to then pick up another customer there. The taxi must return to dispatch empty while another empty taxi goes to the airport to pick up new customers. This forces the taxi driver to burn a lot of gas with no one in the back seat. Plus, they "recycle" police cars for taxis for five grand. Hybrids will cost over twenty, a high price for a new Somalian or Uzbek immigrant entering our job market.