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18 08 07 - 06:01
US Automakers Misleading the Public about Benefits of Stronger Fuel
Well, you can never understand the logic behind (formerly) the big three's
decisions regarding CAFE standards because it defies all logic! Other than the fact that they are so beholden to big oil and special interests, they would have us believe that they can't accomplish the new proposed standards and thousands will lose their jobs. Scare tactics don't work
Simply enough, there is no longer any reason (technical or otherwise) not to be able to produce an affordable plugin hybrid vehicle for the masses. Advanced battery technologies have been delayed more for contractual, patent litigation, special interests and corporate b.s. rather than the know how to get the technology in to rechargable vehicles.
Let's face it..Toyota and others are leaving u.s. auto co's in the dust as
they ramp up full scale production of fuel efficient vehicles.
Sad indeed.
The Union of Concerned Scientists has a good item on this here.
US Automakers Misleading the Public about Benefits of Stronger Fuel
Economy Standards
Detroit Three Holds Rally in Chicago to Protest Proposed Fuel Economy
Bill; Second Rally Slated for August 22
WASHINGTON- AUGUST 16 - U.S. automakers will host a rally today in
Chicago to protest a proposed federal fuel economy standard.
Sponsored by General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, the rally is part of
an industry campaign to pressure a panel of U.S. lawmakers tasked
with resolving differences between Senate and House energy bills to
weaken the standard. The automakers plan another rally in St. Louis
on August 22.
The standard in question would set a 35 mile-per-gallon (mpg)
fleetwide average target for 2020. If fully implemented, the standard
would save American drivers billions of dollars at the pump, cut
hundreds of millions of tons of global warming pollution, and
generate tens of thousands of new jobs, according to the Union of
Concerned Scientists (UCS). The auto industry is backing a feeble
proposal sponsored by Reps. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) and Lee Terry (R-
Neb.) that would save approximately 180 million barrels of oil in
2020, which is what we currently consume in about nine days. This
approach is significantly weaker than the president's goal of saving
8.5 billion gallons of gasoline in 2017 through fuel economy
improvements of 4 percent per year.
full story here
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0816-05.htm
Used tags: cafe_standards, chrysler, detroit_big_three_auto_cos, efficient_hybrids, energy_bill, ford, fuel_economy, fuel_efficiency_standards, fuel_efficient, general_motors