Our 2002 Toyota Prius is nearly at its 85,000-mile and so our thoughts have turned to getting a new car. It's not that we don't think the Prius is good for another 85,000 miles, but the warranty on the hybrid system ends at 100,000 and the car is five years old and we're likely to be able to realize some value out of it and get a new car that will serve us well for the next five years. Having only one car in the family means being able to replace it a little more often.

Our criteria for a new car is simple: it must get over 40 mpg. We'd love something that we can haul some things in (for example, my new keyboard, which only fit our Prius by hanging the end out the window), and safety is always a concern, but when it comes down to brass tacks, our environmental leanings say that we should get the most fuel efficient vehicle we can afford. When we bought our Prius five years ago, we assumed that we would replace it around 80,000 miles, and were looking forward to all the new hybrid options we'd have when that time came around. Ford was talking about making hybrids, as were a number of other companies.

While the number of hybrid autos has increased, the very inconvenient truth is that there are only two automobiles being sold today in the U.S. that get over 40 mpg. According to the Civil Society Institute, this is down from five just two years ago. The same article cites the two issues that prevent more fuel-efficient autos, of which there are 113 to chose from in Europe, from being sold by the Big Three American auto manufacturers in the U.S. are diesel-emission standards and labor unions. Both of these are totally bogus. The Prius proves that you can have a hybrid car that runs on regular unleaded and still achieve fuel efficiency. And claiming that because the labor unions resist the U.S. automakers importing fuel-efficient cars for sale to the U.S. consumer begs the question of why the U.S. automakers aren't making fuel-efficient cars here.

The simple reason we have only two choices for fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S. is because our gas prices remain low. Following a jump to paying over $3/gallon less than a year ago, I'm paying, on average, $2.25/gallon, and when you adjust that for inflation, we're likely paying less at the pump today than we have in the last 30 years. Cheap gas prices allowed for a return of the gas-guzzling land barge, now incarnated as Sport Utility Vehicles as compared to the sedans of the 70s.

We're likely going to buy another Prius. The other option, the Honda Civic, has more limited interior space and, frankly, isn't nearly as interesting in its options and features. Perhaps in another five years we'll have more options. I have to think it can't get any worse.