A Senate panel released proposed legislation to require improved motor vehicle fuel efficiency:
It would raise the nationwide fleet fuel economy average by about 40 percent compared with the current levels of 25 mpg and increase standards by 4 percent a year from 2020 through 2030.
It is a softball piece of legislation; the automakers have until the 2020 model year to advance the fuel mileage to 35mpg. That's thirteen years from now.
Nevertheless, the wailing and gnashing of teeth has begun:
Domestic automakers and the United Auto Workers have said the proposal would be unattainable and threaten jobs at a time when General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group have already announced thousands of job cuts.
Alan Reuther, the UAW's legislative director, wrote that the proposal would force manufacturers "to close more facilities, destroying tens of thousands of additional jobs and undermining the economic base of communities across this country."
Alright, this the same old stuff the automakers have trotted out every time the Feds prod them into making changes: Seat belts, fuel economy, crash worthiness, etc.
Unattainable? The new standards don't kick in until 2020. That's thirteen years for them to catch up on what they should have been doing all along. And, I suspect they couldn't produce one shred of scientific evidence supporting the claim better fuel economy is unattainable.
As for job losses, what's causing that? Hardship meeting fuel standards? No, the Big Three are cutting jobs because they build inferior cars and no one wants to buy them.
So, to the Big Three carmakers: Cut the crap and start working. Or, like the dinosaurs before you, you will be crowded out by a new, more agile species.
Tag: news and politics
Trackposted to Pirate's Cove, Rightlinx, The Amboy Times, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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