Congressional Car Selection and Fuel Economy

Dana Milbank, in a Washington Post column last year, zinged several lawmakers for driving gas guzzling cars to events within easy walking distance of their offices. With gas prices back in the news this summer, I thought the article was worth digging up again.

Here are a few of the cars listed that Senators and Representatives had for trips across the street or a block away.

• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chrysler LHS (18 mpg)
• House Republicans caucusing about gas prices, 8 Chevy Suburbans (14 mpg) idling outside the meeting
• Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.), GMC Yukon (14 mpg)
• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Nissan Pathfinder (15 mpg)
• Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Ford Explorer (14 mpg)
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Lincoln Town Car (17 mpg)
• Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Chrysler minivan (18 mpg)
• Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Toyota Prius (60 mpg)
• Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Dodge Durango V8 (14 mpg)

There are lots more in the article, and Milbank has a lot of fun spinning them together.