They say idle hands are the devil's workshop, but apparently idling diesel engines are Global Warming's workshop.

Which, presumably, is why a new state law makes it illegal for trucks and buses to idle in the same place for more than five minutes, without turning off their engines.

At least that's what it says in this article from the Reading Eagle, (who says we're scared of our competition? We're just scared period.) sent to us by our most loyal reader, Thomas Mounce of Birdsboro.

According to the article: "Each year, idling trucks in Pennsylvania spewed more than 32,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 210,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which are greenhouse gases blamed for global warming."

The idea, apparently, is to keep them from spewing when they're not moving.

Truckers argue that they need to idle their trucks to prevent them from freezing up in cold temperatures, and to run their air conditioning when they're sleeping in warm temperatures.

Ever understanding, the Commonwealth has given long-haul truckers one year to find an alternative power source. One already exists however. Many truck stops are now equipped by a company called "IdleAire," as seen on Modern Marvels as well as mention in the aforementioned article.

These connections provide phone, Internet and electrical connections as well as air conditioning for the idled trucker. (Sounds like a good investment to make if any of us had any money.)

As for school buses, they have to shut their engines off when they're parked at school waiting for the little ones, thus sparing our children the dreaded walk of death, increasing their chances of developing asthma while they look for their ride home.

Of course, while this is all well and good, there's little the law does for this...

Because try as we might, we can't seem to outlaw traffic jams.

Which is not to say this law does not at least make a dent.

And, according to this Associated Press story, published in The Philadelphia Inquirer (see? We really have no fear of competition!), we need all the dents we can get.

The story tells us that the fun folks over at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, those merry pranksters who first alerted us to the dangers of a warmer Earth, have another warning for us, a warmer warning actually.

To put a finer point on it, we're warmer than we thought we were already and the likelihood of the ever-warmer temperatures causing more severe weather just keep getting higher and higher.

"Now, researchers say, 'increases in drought, heat waves and floods are projected in many regions and would have adverse impacts, including increased water stress, wildfire frequency and flood risks starting at less than [1.8 degrees] of additional warming above 1990 levels.'"

"Indeed, 'it is now more likely than not that human activity has contributed to observed increases in heat waves, intense precipitation events, and the intensity of tropical cyclones,' concluded the researchers, led by Joel B. Smith of Stratus Consulting Inc., in Boulder, Colo."

Boy those guys really know how to snuff out a good time don't they?

But apparently, we haven't let a little cold dose of reality in the face stop us.

After all, "The new report, in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, comes a week after Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that humans are now adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s," AP reported.

"Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s, Field said."

Boy, we sure know how to throw a party don't we?

No one can accuse us of having idle hands.