In NYC the top taxicab lobby didn’t take lightly Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s attempt at making the taxi fleet hybrids.  After the announcement that NYC would require taxi companies to gradually phase out the V-8 Crown Victoria, which is a gas-guzzler, for hybrid vehicles that are much more expensive, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade started its campaign designed to fight back.

Last week it won a victory because Paul Crotty, who is a federal judge, ruled that the federal government’s laws about fuel economy pre-empt and city or state regulations.

Obviously, Mayor Bloomberg wasn’t pleased, claiming that “Archaic Washington regulations” should not keep cities from taking matters, such as efficiency and pollution reduction into their own hands.  Certainly, consumers are taking steps to reduce their car costs by purchasing hybrids with new car warranties.

The ruling is peculiar considering the nation has moved away from gas-guzzlers, but it is likely that the decision won’t hold.