Grassley takes on idling cars

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is sending a letter to President Obama asking for a rule to crack down on idling government vehicles. Infuriated by the ubiquitous government-owned cars parked with engines running on the streets of DC, Grassley told reporters in a conference call that he’d had enough. Via Radio Iowa:

“I wrote the same letter to President Bush last summer after getting fed up with seeing countless Towncars and SUVs owned by the government, idling outside of government office buildings day after day.” Grassley chuckled in a conference call when a reporter suggested it might be okay if those government vehicles were fueled with corn-based ethanol, but said it would still be wasteful. “I know gas prices have fallen from last year’s highs, but the wasteful and careless practice of idling federal vehicles is still very prevalent today,” Grassley says. “Seeing idling administration vehicles burning taxpayers’ dollars on Capitol Hill burns me up as well as burning up the gas.

Grassley has also posted a YouTube video explaining how much gas is wasted by idling vehicles, featuring an interview with his mechanic, Wayne from Todd’s Repair in New Hartford, Iowa.