Prior to public opening the Los Angeles Auto Show held its annual “media days” replete with “dealer principal” badges and camera crews to shoot advertorials all over the place. And much like September’s Frankfurt and Tokyo’s recent auto shows, the greenery continued.

The 40+ mpg smart cars were there right next to the entry, which may be why smart head man Dave Schrembi’s badge got hijacked by a protester, who subsequently wore it while while trying to start something as Toyota announced the Sequoia. Alas, Toyota speaker Bob Carter knows Dave Schrembi and the troublemaker was summarily whisked off.

Volkswagen showed off a couple of vehicles with diesel power and announced a spec-racing series running diesel-powered Jettas. Sibling Audi mentioned diesel for the Q7 and new A4, and Mercedes chimed in with Bluetec and diesel hybrids. Chrysler announced their Jeep diesel would cost less and be more available. Even Porsche went green, noting that if every Porsche in the world were switched off there isn’t a sensor that could measure any difference in air quality.

Best spinning had to go to GM however, who noted their Tahoe Hybrid matches a Toyota Camry for fuel economy. In years prior GM had said that hybrids would first appear on their thirstiest SUVs, apparently forgetting their own Saturn Vue hybrid that came first and wasn’t thirsty. Then they said the Tahoe Hybrid wouldn’t be as pricey as the most expensive Tahoe, but at more than $50,000 it does carry the highest base price by about $5000 and is realistically the most expensive.

But comparing a Tahoe Hybrid mileage (EPA 21/22) to a Camry (four cylinder 21/31, V6 19/28, Hybrid 33/34) is just nonsense. They will note that the Tahoe’s big increase is in the city where they spend the most time, but the only reasons to get one are to carry 7 bodies or tow 6000-6200 pounds--you can’t do both simultaneously because at max trailer weight there’s only room for a 165-183 pound driver and no options.

And how many times have you seen a Tahoe that spends most of its fully-loaded or towing time in the city? With their win of the Green Car of the Year award (which the much cleaner and economical Escaper SUV and Camry hybrids won in previous years) it’s only likely to get worse.

At least they validated one thing, as the “economical” hybrid pickup will come with a fuel-saving tonneau as standard.