Is that gas I smell? No, that's money burning.

I love when consumers have a choice. When you go to the store to buy shoes you can get the $5 Chuck Taylors or the $105 Air Jordans. But when the state gets to spend taxpayer money should it have the same choice? I ask because while coming home from work yesterday I noticed a state vehicle (Honda) with an "NGV - Natural Gas Vehicle" logo on the side. What kind of premium is paid for an NGV? According to the state's Price agreement summary/vehicle index it's quite a bit:

NGV's are in RED
All vehicle are comparable (same category)

Ford Focus = $10,604
Honda Civic GX = $20,646
(page 9)

Ford Club Wagon = $14,845
Ford/E350 = $21,369.92
(page 11)

Chevrolet Express (3/4 ton) = $15,060.94
Chevrolet Express (3/4 ton) = $21,927.58
(page 12)

Should the state be paying almost double for a Honda NGV rather than going with an American made Ford Focus? I sure don't think so. And anyone who whines about "outsourcing" or "Wal-Mart sending jobs to China" and owns a foreign car just looks stupid.

Oh, and whiny tree huggers who may argue that "the money they save on gas makes it worth it" please do the research first and crunch those numbers.