Interesting

The EU's method of reducing carbon emissions may not be effective, but China is doing something I know will work: ban half the cars from the road.

During the current test period, cars with registration plates ending in odd and even numbers will each be banned from the roads for two day.

Any driver caught contravening the restrictions will be fined 100 yuan ($13, £6.50) by 6,500 police officers, many stationed at road entrances.

For me, this highlights the power of an oligarchy. If they want cleaner air and less traffic and less people spitting on the ground during the Olympics to please all the visitors, by gawd they are going to have it. This is a pretty striking contrast to the US, where common-sense ideas like CAFE standards become politically rancorous, and ethanol is considered an energy solution.

Obviously I don't support dictatorships. However, environmental issues are so important at this juncture, politicians need to take a harder look at which policies will work in the long term, not just what solutions appear environmentally sound and are easy to implement. After all, they are supposed to be the experts on policy, and they owe us good faith attempts at real solutions.