Seriously, San Francisco?

I am a business student who grew up in suburban Los Angeles. The countries in which I spend a lot of time are usually a lot more concerned with economic growth than with environmental protection. When someone mentions the word “green” the first thoughts that pop into my head more often than not have something to do with the color of American money. And yes, I am one of those people who do not believe that global warming is caused by humans. Although I have been to some more environmentally-minded countries, such as Germany and Belgium, I was truly shocked into disbelief at the amount of environmental B.S. that is going on in San Francisco.
I have seen in a lot of different taxis around the world, but nowhere else have I seen even one Prius taxicab. In San Francisco the things are everywhere. This isn’t just because one or two independent operators are environmentally minded, in fact a sizable portion of cabs in the city are hybrids. When I asked about it, I was told that it is actually a law in San Francisco that in order for a cab company to get licensed a certain percentage of the fleet must be hybrids. Even though my initial reaction was, “Are you kidding me?” I refrained from pointing out that it probably will not be too good for the environment when it comes time to dispose of all the batteries.
The crazy ordinances don’t stop there. All credit card equipped parking meters must be solar powered, and it is illegal to sell a house in San Francisco if it does not have a low flow toilet. Electric buses which are perfectly normal in most major cities are touted as ‘zero emissions vehicles’ in San Francisco. When I pointed out that the electricity for the bus probably comes from a power plant belching black smoke into the air, my comment was succinctly ignored.
The other shocking thing is San Franciscans’ seeming obsession with compost. Previously I’d though that this was something that only a very few private individuals do. However, in the City by the Bay it’s everywhere. Even in coffee shops, garbage disposal facilities are divided not only into trash and recycling, but there is also a separate bin for compostable material. If it were not for my uncle I would still be standing there trying to figure out what goes in which bin.
One final note, the most outlandish thing I saw during my time in San Francisco was also disturbingly cool at the same time. At a frozen yogurt shop, my uncle pointed out that the disposable utensils were made from corn starch. Hearing this I started trying to bite into one of them assuming that edible spoons were a gimmick of the restaurant. It turned out that the spoons were not fit for human consumption, but were biodegradable, and are just as good as the genuine plastic articles.