Declaring "snow days," Georgia Gov Sonny Perdue closed schools today and tomorrow to save gas and reduce supply problems in the wake of Rita. The gov claims the school closings will save 500,000 gallons of gas by idling school buses.

It's entirely possible, of course, that Gov. Perdue's policy will result in greater gas usage than having schools operate as usual. Georgia had 1.38 million government school kids in 2002-2003 (data obtained from the Georgia Statistics System); if each kid's parents use about four-tenths of a gallon (=500,000 gallons divided by 1.38 million kids) more gas than they would if the kids were in school then total gas usage would increase. Would this happen? Hard to say, but it's certainly possible if having the little tykes out of school results in extra driving.

Now the kicker: What's even worse than having policymakers guided by shaky economic thinking? Hypocrisy. Earlier this evening I was watching a few innings of the Braves game--guess which gas conserving politician was seated in the stands? Yup, our beloved governor who wasn't so concerned about gas availability that he couldn't drive across town to catch a ballgame.