Bush, automakers avoid talk on fuel economy
>By John Crawley
>Reuters
>
>Mar 26, 2007 =97 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and U.S.
>auto executives on Monday promoted alternative fuels but did not discuss
>in any meaningful way their major point of disagreement, government fuel
>efficiency requirements.
>
>Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of General Motors Corp. , and his
>counterparts from Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Group appeared to come away=
>with little.=20
>
>"Fair to say he is not necessarily advocating regulatory approaches but
>what kind of market-based approaches can we use," Wagoner told reporters
>after the group's second meeting with Bush in four months.=20
>
>"We didn't get a lot more detail than that, but that was the tone of the
>conversation."=20
>
>Bush last year annoyed Detroit's struggling automakers when he told them
>to make more relevant products if they wanted to reverse their
>market-share slide to Toyota Motor Corp. and other overseas competitors.=20 >
>He has reached out to them since and on Monday endorsed their plan to make=
>half of their vehicles capable of running on fuel made from 85 percent
>ethanol or biodiesel by 2012.=20
>
>"That's a major technological breakthrough for the country," Bush said
>after reviewing three alternative fuel vehicles on the White House South
>Lawn with Wagoner, Alan Mulally of Ford and Tom LaSorda of Chrysler.=20 >
>As part of his plan to reduce gas consumption by 20 percent, Bush has
>proposed a 4 percent annual increase in passenger fleet fuel economy to
>about 34 miles per gallon by 2017.=20
>
>Leading Democrats and Republicans in Congress have advanced similar
>proposals as the quickest and most dramatic way to cut oil consumption and=
>reduce imports.=20
>
>"TIRED GIMMICKS"=20
>
>Environmental and consumer advocates said the meeting was a missed
>opportunity for Detroit to align itself with the Bush administration and
>Congress on an approach for making their vehicles more efficient.=20 >
>Dan Becker, the Sierra Club's global warming and energy director, said
>Bush and the automakers are not addressing "real solutions" to reduce oil
>consumption and tailpipe emissions.=20
>
>"Unfortunately, today we saw the same tired gimmicks from the auto
>industry," Becker said.=20
>
>Automakers accept the government will impose some increase in fuel
>standards probably next year and agree with Bush that it is necessary to
>change how those standards are calculated.=20
>
>But GM, Ford Chrysler and some overseas rivals that make less fuel
>efficient pickups and sport utility vehicles contend that the type of
>efficiency jump advocated by policy chiefs and lawmakers would be too
>costly. They also say it would do little to save fuel, because demand
>would continue to increase.=20
>
>"We didn't talk about the 4 percent," Wagoner said.=20
>
>The auto chiefs said they discussed mostly strategies for increasing
>demand for fuels such as ethanol-gas blends, biodiesel and other
>alternatives to gasoline.=20
>
>Detroit wants tax breaks and other government incentives to help them
>retool their plants to make alternative-fueled vehicles and create
>conditions for expanding the limited infrastructure for producing and
>delivering advanced fuel options to consumers.=20
>
>Most of the 6 million vehicles on the road today largely made by GM, Ford
>and Chrysler are capable of running on the leading ethanol-gasoline fuel
>mix (E85) or other flexible fuels but actually use only gasoline.=20 >
>Detroit complains there are 170,000 gas stations nationwide but only 1,100=
>pumps that can deliver E85. Most are located in the Midwest, where most of=
>the corn for ethanol is grown.=20
>
>The American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies on behalf of big oil
>companies, has said market forces and consumer preferences should
>determine where and how ethanol is consumed. The organization said a
>national emphasis on E85 might prove unnecessarily risky and expensive.=20 >
>Converting a gasoline-only pump to E85 could cost from $10,000 to as much
>as $200,000, the petroleum institute said.
>
>
>Copyright 2007 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material
>may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
>
Sierra Club is right. Same tired old arguments from the Pres. He is such a=
hypocrite. His SUV (Air Force One) burns more fossil fuel and dumps more CO, CO2, HCx into the atmosphere in one day on one political trip than your=
SUV could in 200 years. Furthermore, your ground based SUV polution is absorbed and converted whereas that of the Presidential Jetmobile lingers in the stratosphere for years and does real damage.
The best way to cut down on foreign oil imports is to go for WWII style rationing. You get 5 gallons a week, period in coupons. Burn it with a match or in a Honda 50. Its your choice. The President, in deference to his high position, should be allowed 10 gallons a week.
There is a little flexibility in my perfect plan. If you want more than 5 gallons a week, you can buy some extra gallons from somebody on the open market. College students will make a bundle selling their 5 gallons and walking instead of driving. It favors the rich, who can afford to buy all the gas they want and benefits the poor who get rich selling their gas coupons.
If somebody can come up with a better plan than mine, I'll eat a bug.
Copyright my ass 1984 George Orwell. No rights reserved. This material must be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.