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For all of their hipster cool, progressives have very little tolerance for anything fun in life. Such is their dedication to punitive environmentalism that they are threatening to regulate the German roadster out of existence in pursuit of the chimera of "green" regulation: Porsche Fights For Easier Fuel Rules

On the open road, few cars are faster than a Porsche 911. But in the race to meet new U.S. fuel-economy and emissions standards, the German sports-car maker may struggle to cross the finish line.

As the Obama administration gets ready in the coming days to finalize a package of new rules that would mandate increased fuel economy and curb cars' greenhouse-gas emissions, Porsche AG is one of a handful of niche sports-car makers pressing for special treatment and arguing that the proposed standards would hit them disproportionately hard.

I love how popular culture persistently treats corporations, especially manufacturers, as these sort of monolithic, all-powerful entities who would destroy the earth if given half the chance. Yet Porsche, a firm that has been building cutting edge sportscars for decades, is having to quail before anonymous US regulators who have the power to determine whether or not Porsche can continue to design and manufacture the sort of vehicles that have been its stock in trade. And, even if the feds manage to go easy on Porsche, that company will still have to expend thousands of man hours and millions of dollars designing around the regulations imposed on them by people who care not a whit for automobiles and would undoubtedly regard $75,000 sportscars as the sort of luxury item that would be better left unbuilt anyway.

Tell me again who are the powerless and who are the powerful?