A rule proposed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to promote greener taxis suffered a breakdown on Friday. A federal district court judge struck down the rule because it attempts to set fuel efficiency standards, something the judge says only the federal government can do.

Specifically, the rule would have sought to require all of the city's 13,237 cabs to achieve a 25 MPG average by 2012, which would essentially mandate hybrid vehicles.

The Mayor's office offered a terse response saying, "The sad irony here is the laws being relied on by the plaintiff, the Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act were designed to reduce air pollution and reduce our dependence on foreign oil - which is exactly what moving to fuel efficient cabs will do." The press release also promised to have the Taxi and Limousine Commission draft a new rule using incentives and disincentives to encourage hybrids, rather than efficiency requirements.

The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, one of the lawsuit's filers, argues that available hybrids aren't robust enough for the rigors of city life and that they're less safe than the ubiquitous Crown Victoria.

This first issue sounds legit. The Crown Vic became the industry standard for NYC's yellow army because it's spacious and reliable, not for its race car looks. But I'm not buying the safety argument, especially when the seatbelt usage rate of most passengers is likely under 5%.

Still, I think it is well worth it to make the apple greener and this setback doesn't look to be a fatal one.

Source: New York Times

Photo by Flickr user Phillie Casablanca