Automotive Blog

After spending the better part of his two terms insisting that the science was still “out” on global warming and greenhouse emissions, President George W. Bush said today “we’re taking action,” implying a bold initiative to make “our environment cleaner and our nation more secure for generations to come.” Specifically, the President was addressing the setting of new standards for fuel-economy in automobile design and manufacturing by the end of 2008, including the mandated use of more alternative fuels like ethanol.

You’ll forgive me if I confess the phrase that comes to mind is “day late, dollar short.” One wonders if the timing of the announcement (on a day when average gasoline prices in the nation’s mid-section hit $3.10) was not more intended to provide the beleagured president with some good press in the face of his growing fight with Congress over funding of the war in Iraq.

This is not to say that I don’t agree with the overall goal of raising the current 27.5 mpg fuel efficiency standard, but the goal of cutting gasoline use by only 5 percent by 2017 — although five times greater than the current 2012 target — is still far too conservative given the severity of American dependence on oil and the increased evidence of the speed and extent of global warming. But perhaps it’s all we’re likely to get from a former oil man turned chief executive.

And Mr. Bush is a man who will be without a job in another year or so. It’s more likely that his proposals simply suggest that Republicans may finally be getting a clue that the American people want some things to change, including our dangerous addiction to oil and the way our automobiles are made. Without question, these are issues that will play a pivotal role in the 2008 election and given our love of our personal means of transportation, we’d best pay attention to what each of the candidates has to say on the matter.

The automobile industry is poised on the brink of the most significant shift in consumer demand and engineering ethics ever required of it and while the president’s proposals are more apt to be lost in the coming storm of rhetoric and regime change than to actually be enacted, they are an indication of the changing pulse of the American driving public.

Posted on May 14th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: news |

del.icio.us Digg Reddit Google Netscape StumbleUpon