Free Republic

Courts: The often-loopy 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is now giving orders to the White House. A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that federal fuel-economy standards for light trucks and SUVs must be tougher.The unanimous decision was made in favor of the 11 states, the cities of New York and Washington, and various environmental groups that sued the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over fuel-mileage standards issued last year. Using the save-the-planet argument, the plaintiffs claimed corporate average fuel economy requirements should be higher. They dislike the federally mandated 1.5-miles-per-gallon increase to 24 miles per gallon for 2008 through 2011...

San Francisco (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out planned federal fuel economy standards for many sport-utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks, ruling that the Bush administration failed to address why those so-called "light trucks" are allowed to pollute more than cars. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals also ruled that the standards, which were to go into effect next year, didn't properly assess the risk to the environment and failed to include heavier trucks. "The ruling does two potentially very big things," said Brian Nowicki of the Center for Biological Diversity, which led the assault...

Owners are fleeing full-size SUVs in dramatic numbers, but it's not necessarily because of high fuel prices. Sport-utility émigrés are winding up in fuel-thirsty full-size pickups more frequently than in any other category of vehicle. http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-06-16-new-truck-usat_x.htm

From the heavily publicized eHarmony.com to the ever-popular Match.com, there are hundreds of online dating services available today for the average single person. But a brand-new dating Web site, RedneckAndSingle.com, is geared toward a more specific audience. "The whole idea of RedneckAndSingle.com was to create an online dating environment just for very down-to-earth people with interests like country music, NASCAR and camping," says Kevin, the site's creator. "Think of it as an online honky-tonk." The site has already garnered a lot of interest from the public, receiving approximately 1,600 visitors in its first few weeks in operation, and 50 people...

TOLEDO -- Consumers at the 2005 Toledo Auto Show are shopping for more than the latest vehicle trends. Locally, gasoline prices flirted with the $2.00 per gallon mark this week. How much higher would prices have to go before vehicle buyers shied away from hot selling SUV's and full-size pickup trucks? According to Perrysburg resident Heidi Decker, $2.50 to $2.75 per gallon. Decker checked out a large Toyota SUV reported to get 15 miles per gallon in the city and 19 miles per gallon on the highway. Fred and Sherry Clark didn't let high fuel prices stop them from buying...

Industry plan seeks to make light trucks less dangerous in collisions with passenger cars and to improve vehicles' side-impact protection By Danny Hakim THE NEW YORK TIMES Thursday, December 4, 2003 DETROIT -- The auto industry, which for years has disputed critics' contentions that sport-utility vehicles pose a significant danger to other vehicles in collisions, agreed Wednesday to make design changes to SUVs and pickups sold in the United States so they are less dangerous to the occupants of passenger cars. Fifteen automakers from four nations agreed to redesign their light trucks, mostly SUVs and pickups, to reduce the likelihood...

DETROIT - Nissan Motor Co.'s first full-size pickup, which goes on sale in the United States next month, will be priced $2,600 to $3,000 less than comparable models from Detroit's Big Three, the Japanese automaker said. Nissan began production of the Titan pickup at its Canton, Miss., manufacturing facility in October. It is scheduled to reach showrooms the first week of December. The truck is available in two body styles, a King Cab and larger Crew Cab. The price will range from $22,400 for the base model to nearly $40,000 depending on the trim level and other options, the company...

Sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles helped Detroit's Big Three automakers post slightly better-than-expected sales in May, but Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group still were down for the month. Tepid sales since the first of the year also prompted Ford and rival General Motors Corp. to announce profit-curtailing production cuts for the third quarter, and DaimlerChrysler warned of a likely second-quarter operating loss for Chrysler. Among foreign automakers, American Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor America, Nissan North America and Toyota Motor Sales USA all notched sales gains in May. Toyota had its best month in 46...