Lisa Mascaro of The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports that while the state of California has passed legislation to make hybrid cars even more desirable, the US Congress has yet to do the necessary legwork to allow the legislation to be implemented. In "Hybrid bill stalled" she writes:

California's hybrid car owners who'd hoped to drive solo in the carpool lanes come Jan. 1 have to put the brakes on those dreams because of a legislative stalemate in Washington, D.C.

Although Assembly Bill 2628 is set to become law with the New Year, it cannot be implemented without approval by Congress, where the measure is stalled indefinitely.

Why might such a measure be stalled indefinitely? A number of companies with large lobbying budgets oppose the measure.

The proposed federal law faces still a tough fight on Capitol Hill, where the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has mounted opposition.

The group says there are a host of new hybrids coming to the market that don't quite achieve the 45 mph fuel-efficiency requirement from the Ford Escape SUV that debuted this year to the Lexus RX400H coming in 2005 and the perk shouldn't be limited to only those three cars that do.

While I agree that Toyota and Honda hybrid cars should not be the only vehicles that get to ride in the carpool lane with only one driver, perhaps the solution is Ford and Lexus making cars that reach 45 miles per gallon! Action must be taken on this bill, and Congress cannot be allowed not to act.