It Is a Cruel Cruel World

So you're a good-hearted, environmentally-conscious, lefty kinda person...you want to help save the world by doing your part. So you pay an extra $4000 for a car to get a Prius because you want to stop global warming. It'll take nine years for that investment to pay off, but who cares, there is more to good global citizenship than dollars and cents. Secretly though you actually like having more money than less money (sshhh! don't tell the gang at the coffee house!), and relish the prospect of a quick payback because Barack Obama is in the White House and he's going to ban drilling for oil in US waters and gas is going to skyrocket. You are on the road to not just environmental righteousness but savvy financial geniusdom as well. You are awesome and everyone is gonna have to admit and bow to your awesomeness! Awesome!

That was one year ago. Since then it turns out that the global warming scientists were cheating and lying. There may not even be global warming. There certainly isn't going to be any global policy achievements to reduce it, so your Prius is a worthless bust when it comes to doing something for the environment. Well, at least the impending scarcity of oil is going to make that $4000 payback come sooner, right? Maybe not since President Obama, in his first SOTU address called for more oil and gas drilling offshore. Who knows, but maybe that nine years is going to really be like, twelve. Oh, and you may have faulty brakes...