What’s with all the talk about national energy security and a recession? American consumers aren’t listening to the worrywarts — they’re out there doing their patriotic duty, lining up to buy SUVs at a record clip. Sales in November were up 13.7 percent last month from the year before. In fact, so far this year, half of the 20 best-selling vehicles in the country have been SUVs, according to the Commerce Department. (Could this have something to do with an announcement by the U.S. EPA in October that fuel efficiency for all 2001 model cars is only 20.4 miles per gallon, the lowest in two decades?) Senate Democrats said this week that they would fight to increase fuel-efficiency standards for SUVs, but somehow they forgot to mention just what size increase they would push for.
