HI All. I read the post here and I can completely understand everyone's disappointment with our environmental policies, and government bureaucracy. I'm a mechanical engineer and it hasn't escaped my attention that our emissions systems for cars are actually making them consume more fuel. Cars are also significantly more costly to repair and will not last anywhere near as long as they otherwise could have.
I personally don't place all the blame on government because I have relatives who work in the big oil industry. In fact my own brother in law is a junior executive at Chevron. Our system of government works through a system of influence and just like environmentalists have influence, so does big oil. Our policies are essentially the culmination of interests of all these groups. At the end of the day this is precisely why you have emission ed cars which make less Co2, but also use a lot more fuel which makes oil producers happy.
This is why I like having my Roxor. Now I have a rig which might last the rest of my life. Thus it's better for the earth because it creates less waste. Meanwhile it also uses less fuel which is good for me and the earth combined.
So what's the ultimate solution? Probably there isn't one. Leaders try to make policy which makes a majority of people happy. It's impossible to make everyone happy. I personally won't just give up and blame the government for all the problems I'm seeing because I'm well aware of who else is to blame. Those same actors want you to focus all your anger at your own government. It's all about channeling people's hostility away and redirecting it elsewhere. The wealthy are masters at this.