In a recent ruling in a highway construction dispute, San Antonio federal judge Fred Biery cited a range of authorities: Barbra Streisand; Stephen Sondheim; James Taylor; the Pearl beer slogan; and television programs spanning the past 50 years.

There were nods to the Lone Ranger and Superman, and at one point, the judge wrote: "Instead of the 'X Files,' this drama could be called the 'Yuck Files'." Idling car engines cause "automobile droppings," the judge wrote, "which the court calls Petro Poop."

It...