Chris Dodd is still running?

Ummm - what is Chris Dodd on?

His plan for Iraq? Ethnic cleansing. At least that's a touch better than Obama's "I'm cool with genocide" plan.

His plan for energy reduction? 50 MPG average for cars in 2017. Why stop at 50? If you're going to start making up impossible engineering challenges, why not just dictate that all cars must run by turning household trash into neatly pressed twenty dollar bills? I do want to point out, though, that he personally drives a frickin' SUV. Why he needs a 25 MPG SUV when apparently the rest of us should be driving around in golf carts is beyond me. I also love that he says that they're "moving to the energy-efficient light bulbs." Say he has 30 bulbs in his house. They're about $3 each and take about 20 seconds to install. For $100 and a half hour's work, he could replace every bulb in his house. What's he mean by "moving to..."? Oh, and he has "storm windows". That's good of him. Good to see he's really taking the fight to the streets.

Things I'd like to see these guys who are preaching environmental consciousness to do:

1. Swap out every light bulb possible at home with a compact fluorescent, LED, or other low-wattage light bulb.
2. Drive an American-made, union-built car which gets over 30 miles per gallon.
3. Install energy efficient furnaces, programmable thermostats, and high-quality insulated walls, doors, and windows.
4. Use more energy efficient lawn care equipment such as push mowers and engines which comply with the most recent EPA standards.
5. Live in a modestly sized home.

These items don't cost much money and, in fact, are usually more cost effective than the alternative. Dodd is trying to cripple the auto industry and put hundreds of thousands, perhaps, millions, of Americans out of jobs with his ridiculous 50 MPG desire. If he's going to destroy that many lives, is it too much to ask that he spend $100 and a half an hour to replace all of his light bulbs.

Chris Dodd pushes the energy envelope
Salon

Chris Dodd hasn't been out front on environmental issues during his 32 years in Congress, but he's clearly aiming to outgreen his competitors in the 2008 presidential campaign. He has earned props in environmental circles for being the only candidate with the political cojones to call for a corporate carbon tax as a way to fight global warming, and for endorsing a strict fuel-economy standard that would require new cars and trucks to get 50 miles per gallon by 2017, Dodd even ran what was billed as the first presidential candidate ad focused on global warming.

This senator from Connecticut isn't gaining a big boost in popularity from his aggressive environmental stances; he's hovering at 1 to 2 percent in the polls. But will he raise the bar for a strong green agenda in the 2008 presidential race? I called Dodd at his Senate office to find out how much substance there is behind his bold proposals.

Everybody's got the goals right: We're all for energy independence, for dealing with global warming, for increasing job opportunities in the country. The difficulty breaks down in how do you get there. If you're going to be truly be effective in reaching those goals, you've got to be very candid about you how get there.