Do you remember the crazed Union cavalry officer who hounded Clint Eastwood's character in The Outlaw Josey Wales? He said "doin' right ain't got no end." The state of California – and it is not just California – sees it that way also. Even to the extent of forbidding the sale of replacement tires that aren't exactly the same spec (as far as rolling resistance) as the tires that were originally fitted to the vehicle by its manufacturer.

The doin' right part has to do with the lower rolling resistance, which – so the argument goes – increases fuel economy and (by dint of that) lowers "emissions." This is technically true, in the same way that adding a cup of water to the ocean increases the volume of the ocean – and in the same way that taking a cup of water out of the ocean decreases the volume of the ocean.

It is not, of course, explained to people in this way. Instead, people are told that forcing them to buy the same type of tire that their vehicle originally came with will result in meaningful mileage gains (as well as meaningful reductions in "emissions") which is deliberately untrue, in the sense that the people pushing this untruth know it to be untrue. Put another way, they are pushing it for punitive purposes, though they will never openly admit this. Just as the "climate change" pushers will never admit they have been using the "climate change" bogeyman to get people – the masses, I mean – to accept an ever-diminishing standard of living. The "climate change" pushers do not intend to diminish their lifestyle anymore than Trump intends to trade in his new fleet of 250 V8-powered Cadillac Escalades for a fleet of fuel-sippy Prius hybrids.