Former Vice President Al Gore, in his book Earth in the Balance, has stated that the internal combustion engine is a greater threat to the safety of mankind than nuclear weapons. Leaving beside the obvious absurdity of the statement--World War Two was not ended by dropping Studebakers on Japan, nor was the Cold War marked by Strategic Chevrolet Limitation Talks--the mindset evinced by this statement should be critically examined. P.J. O'Rourke has performed a hilarious comparison of the efficiency of the human body--in particular, rickshaw pullers--with the efficiency of the gasoline-powered engine. He notes that the chemical energy available in...