EDITORIAL:

When City Councilman Joe Carchio recently proposed free parking in downtown and beach lots for owners of hybrid and alternative-fuel cars it took us a little bit by surprise. After all, not many would confuse Joe Carchio with Al Gore.

But it sounded like a great idea to us. Environmentalism isn’t — or shouldn’t be — a partisan issue. Not anymore, certainly. Peer-reviewed science has overwhelmingly shown that global warming is a man-made phenomena. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and sacrifice to heal the planet and most scientists say cutting down on greenhouse gases is a good place to start. That means less driving and more fuel-efficient cars.

So Carchio’s proposal to encourage the more environmentally conscious of our drivers is a nice, small step for the city to take. Especially when you consider Mayor Debbie Cook said she wants to use the bully pulpit of her office to promote a reduction in energy usage in Huntington Beach.

What’s not so understandable or agreeable to us is Carchio’s rush to push through the ordinance when he didn’t have enough votes. The City Council voted 3-3, meaning the ordinance died. Carchio knew Cook — an obvious tie-breaking vote — could not attend the meeting. He also knew she asked to postpone the meeting so she could weigh in later. What’s the matter, Joe? Can’t do political math?

We seriously doubt Carchio’s so Nixonian that he would push it through then just to kill it.

“It’s unfortunate that the mayor couldn’t be here,” Carchio said at the meeting. “But I think we should do it tonight.”

Now there’s a great argument.

To be fair, some of the City Council members who rejected the proposal said they did so because they felt it was premature.

“I’m not prepared to support this today, but I could if it comes back in a comprehensive policy where it says the best way to spend $75,000 is to give free parking passes to hybrids,” Councilman Don Hansen said.

It’s not like the polar ice caps are going to melt next week and free parking permits will save the penguins, Joe. Your great idea could have waited another couple of weeks.

But if the proposal is revived, let’s not spend months wasting staff time and money with the usual bureaucratic vetting. This isn’t complicated. All you need to do is decide if you can afford it and if you want to make a statement about global warming. In practical terms this won’t have a huge impact on the environment, but the way things are going every little bit helps.