"This Vehicle Is Unsafe for Driving!"

A dreary grey morning on the edge of Manhattan, and people are shuffling into the Jacob Javits Center to check out the chrome and steel extravaganza that is the New York Auto Show. Outside, in a boxy modernist park across the street, a not-entirely-officialy government agency is preparing for action.

They're lined up and standing at attention, ready for the commands of their drill sergeant.

"Troops! Are you prepared for your mission today?!"

"Sir, Yes Sir!"

"Troops what are we doing today?"

"Sir, Acting Out Our Presidential Mandate Sir!"

"And what was that mandate, troops?"

"To End America's Addiction On Foreign Oil, Sir!"

They break into a march, chanting as well, a snappy little ditty about global warming and concept cars, before breaking into a run. Decked out in black like a Swat Team, chests emblazoned with the letters "OEA", they are the Oil Enforcement Agency, formed by Andrew Boyd (of the Billionares for Bush) to take the President's warning about America's oil addiction seriously. They have come to the Auto Show today to impound vehicles that they deem as falling below the safety threshold for oil consumption. Cars such as the Toyota Tundra, the 14 mile-to-the-gallon gaz guzzler that effectively cancels out Toyota's commitment to its Prius and Camry hybrids. As Boyd explains it, the OEA is the government agency that should exist and doesn't.

Their drill routine finished, the members of the OEA prepare for infiltration.

"Now Troops, as some of you know, our law enforcement partners are not aware of our governmental authority, and they are not aware that we are acting in conjunction with each other. We will have to presume that they will not react to us in a friendly manner, which means that we will have to act in stealth."

He lays out a plan for the troops to enter the Javits Center under cover, dressed as regular civilians, and then reveal their OEA affiliation once they are inside the perimeter and ready to perform their auto impoundment. He notes that, as some of the members of the OEA have to be careful about their relationship to "traditional" law enforcement, not all members will be able to actually go inside the space. (A few days earlier, some of the OEA troops had staged a diversion while two of members of the mountain climbing division had scaled the rafters of the Javits Center and huing a banner displaying a Tundra driving over the earth. They had simply been kicked out, but they didn't want to press their luck.)

With those instructions, he released his troops to go about their mission.

Kelly Loundenberg and I were there as imbedded journalists with the OEA, capturing their actions on camera. After the vehicle had been succesfully - if momentarily - impounded, she edited the footage together for the following two minute spot, a mere sampling of the day's full events:



For more on the New York Auto Show, including Andrew Boyd ("Agent Chartreuse") and the hanging of the banner, check out Kelly's video on Gothamist. And learn more about the OEA at their website, http://www.oilenforcementagency.com/.