The Green Police

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints who defeated the Indianapolis Colts to win their first Super Bowl. I have actually grown somewhat tired of the endless hype leading up to the Super Bowl, what with the six hour pre-game show and the extra long half time show. I just want to watch the damn game.

The other big thing with the Super Bowl is the hype of the commercials that will be shown during the game. I have to admit, that in past years, some of the commercials have been just as entertaining as the football. Aside from the usual assortment of beer commercials and Go Daddy commercials none really stood out to me, with the exception of the Audi Green Police commercial.

It isn't that I thought the commercial was particularly well done or clever, but that it is a frightening example of the direction of we are heading in as a society. Sure it is supposed to be a tongue in cheek, over exaggeration to show the Audi as an eco-friendly automobile, but how far away are we really from having a "Green Police?"

Let's just take a few examples.  We have several jurisdictions that have banned the use of plastic bags in the grocery stores and several others that have passed legislation taxing those bags.  Several states have already banned incandescent light bulbs, and current federal legislation will eventually phase them out in the next few years.  Years ago, when I was a buyer for trash bags for a grocery chain, one local county passed legislation requiring blue trash bags for recyclables and clear trash bags to make sure people were not throwing out items that could be recycled.

Now, I am all for a cleaner planet and conservation.  However, most of these things that the political elite are trying to force upon us are more costly and disproportionately impact the lower and middle classes.  Do we really want to live in a society where every decision we make in our consumption is controlled by government forces?  I don't.