Sometimes it's refreshing to know that, while Americans seem to revel in our wastefulness, people elsewhere in the world care about the environment.
It wasn't surprising to see lots of tiny cars tootling around Geneva last week. What was surprising, however, was to see how many of them had stickers on their side telling the world how little carbon dioxide they emit.
A passing Golf BlueMotion boasted 120 g/km, while little rolling billboards for the self-proclaimed CO2 Champion - the Smart microcar - made sure all of the visiting journalists knew that they were only blowing out 88 grams every kilometer.
It was a marketing campaign that didn't go unnoticed. I heard more talk of reducing carbon dioxide emissions than I did of increasing horsepower. Pardon the pun, but it was a breath of fresh air.
Wouldn't it be nice to see stickers on the sides of taxicabs in New York for next month's auto show? I, for one, would love to see "CO2 Loser: 740g/km" stickered on the side of some tattered old Caprice.
I was talking to a few auto executives at the show, who were quoting a recent report that if the U.S. had the same market penetration of diesel vehicles as Europe, we could completely eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.
Now wouldn't that be nice?