While GM say it turns to face the strange ch-ch-changes, it seems old pork barrel habits die hard (with a vengeance). The Detroit News reports that US Rep Joel Knollenberg (R-MI) has proposed $1.2b in federal spending and $3.2b in tax rebates to help American automakers achieve recently-increased CAFE standards. The bill sports a nausea-inducing acronym: "Bridging Industry and Government Through Hi-Tech Research on Energy Efficiency Act." Yup, that's the BIG THREE Act. The easiest of the bill's provisions to stomach: $750m over five years for "advanced battery research and development" The hardest? The $50m to pay for 200 hydrogen fueling stations, and the $150m to buy fool-cell vehicles for government use. The big-ticket spending comes in the form of a 20 percent refundable tax credit for research and development costs connected to meeting fuel efficiency standards. Figure that at $3.2b. The Detroit automakers are lining-up to fawn over Rep Knollenbergs fiscal irresponsibility bold leadership. Which was probably the point of the exercise anyway. Knollenberg is locked in a tight race for re-election (with suicide Doc Jack Kevorkian amongst others). To differentiate himself from his opponents, he's been emphasizing his support for the auto industry. Sounds like several billion well spent.
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Yeah, I’d much rather spend that money fighting the war in Iraq…..pffft.
It isn’t like the Germans and Japanese don’t give far more to their darling automakers.
I say good.
Well, he’s got a point. Anything (like increased CAFE, or higher gas prices) that increases fuel economy of the average vehicle sold hurts the Detroit Three and helps Honda or Toyota (or at least hurts Honda and Toyota much less than the Detroit Three). The Detroit Three, at this point, can only survive by selling lots of huge vehicles, or by being subsidized by the government. Maybe the proper way to do so would be to simply not increase CAFE instead.
That’s the problem with CAFE – if you interfere with normal supply and demand market forces and force arbitary fule economy standards on car makers then you may also have to assist them in meeting them. I say scrap both CAFE and the pork – gas prices are doing their job in improving fuel economy much better than CAFE ever did.
I also second Jerome10’s sentiments – while pork is bad, its still better than wasting money on our Iraq misadventure.
During WW II motorists were encouraged to cut gas consumption by asking “Is this trip really necessary?”
Congress should ask that of itself. There will be enormous and continuing energy-related R&D around the globe even without Knollenberg’s measure. In contrast, there are some things only Uncle Sam can do–such as preventing Iranian Islamofascist hegemony over the Mideast.
Let ’em build what they want to. Either they willg et smarter or they will go out of business.
Kill off CAFE. Just leads to crummy small cars to offset the poor mileage of the big vehicles.
And this way we get smarter corporate America…
The problem I have with the gov’t paying the big companies to research stuff is that Detroit can waste the money and then just say that the technology doesn’t work.
Maybe a better way would be to spread the money around and let universities, gov’t labs, and corporate America all develop technology. Sort of an open source vehicle.
It has worked pretty well for Linux in the computer world. Grab a free Linux LiveCD called Knoppix and take a look or look at some of the screenshots of Linux desktops. They have in some ways matched corporate computer products with a very disorganized community of developers. By the way the LiveCDs work on any PC and make no changes to your computer unless you tell them to install. Free.
So since the average Joe isn’t going to develop a whole lot of new auto tech at home, create that development community within the auto industry, universities and gov’t labs. I feel like there is alot of resistance from corporate America to develop automotive technology any further than they have to b/c it is cheaper to take the easy path of SUVs and trucks. Sort of like there was no safety equipment in most cars until the gov’t mandated it.
On the other hand just let things continue to develop and Detroit will fade away and be replaced by Japan which might be replaced someday by China. Evolution of the automobile corporation. Only I don’t want any one company to get all the business any more than I want our Wal-Mart here to run everyone else out of business. Really cramps the shopping options and I would like some options that sells goods NOT made in China.
Didn’t Washington give Detroit a nice fat grant back in the 1990’s to develop more fuel efficient tech. Or am I thinking of the billions they gave to AT&T to bring fiber broadband into homes, which AT&T never did (but they took the money).
Pork isn’t all THAT bad.
After all, that whole Tennesee Valley Authority thing worked out pretty well, didn’t it?
Yep, I agree with the no pork, no interference plan. Let’s call our legislators.
Attention voters,
The funny taste in your mouth is your own bile. You see, “Republican” JK wants to take your money and lavish it on 3 companies who have utterly failed in being competitive for the LAST 30 YEARS! Yep, here’s a good example of a Corpratist who puts your interests behind those who line his pockets and pay his country club membership.
If you live in his district, now would be a good time to remind him he needs to represent YOU, not the lazy, intellectually challenged executives who keep slipping hundreds in his pockets.
Yet another flea-bite-sized Band-aid when what we need is radical surgery.
Our fuel price (and Iraq war spending) problems are a direct result of massive subsidization of the petroleum industry and our petroleum-based lifestyles.
This encompasses everything from our military expenditures (I read an estimate of $55 billion/year to keep the Persian Gulf safe for ExChevMobTexArcHalliburton NOT counting the $3 trillion Iraq hole), to zoning/tax laws that encourage urban sprawl and make auto dealerships the largest source of tax revenues in many locales.
http://www.progress.org/gasoline.htm
On that scale, Kollenburg’s bill scarcely qualifies as “pork”. More like a sprinkling of bacon bits….
and here i was thinking that i would be given information to battle my roommates depression by barbequing some more pork…
I would have to argue that CAFE has been beneficial and that overall mileage would be worse without it than with it. Why else would Detroit have made so many vehicles “Flexfuel” for years without charging for it and not even advertising it until recently? Because it allowed them to game the system and sell fuel swilling trucks/SUV’s without mileage penalty. I would be willing to bet that we would be in MUCH worse shape had CAFE not forced a minimum standard. if anything CAFE was flawed because it did not force slow incremental improvements. That is why today’s fleet of new vehicles averages the same mileage as those of 1981. If we had continual small mileage increases, Detroit would be in much better condition today to meet higher standards. Vehicles would have been made lighter with more advanced materials. Would choice have been limited? Maybe there would not have been Hummers, Excursions, etc. But there would have also been Explorers with unit construction, more aluminum, smaller engines and much better mileage. Sadly, Detroit always takes the easy way out so if there were no minimum standards, today’s trucks would be guzzling even more than they do now.
the TVA has been a complete disaster.
Iranian Islamofascist hegemony
You’ve been listening to a little too much Rush Limbaugh.
Honestly, I don’t know what to say. Every American industry has always been supported with protectionism and money infusions, from auto to health care to pharmaceuticals. But, so are the industries of every other industrialized nation in the world, regardless of all the talk about ‘free markets’. They shouldn’t be, but they are.
If the detroit three never have to improve because they get bailed out at every turn, they will never improve.
Shouldn’t he have come up with a stupid acronym for “big two point five”?
50merc
“there are some things only Uncle Sam can do–such as preventing Iranian Islamofascist hegemony over the Mideast.”
Groan . .
Seriously, sir, I am afraid you have bought into all the lies that the petro-oligarchy/neo cons/Israeli/pentagon/and (sadly,) Republicans want you to believe.
In fact, our invasion and occupation of Iraq has destroyed it as a cogent entity that stood in counterbalance to Iran. Iraq is broken onto pieces now. Our military invasions and occupations in the Middle East have in fact strengthened Iran’s hand.
With all due respect, read a little history, sir. Go back 50 or 100 or a 1000 years rather than just 5. I guarantee your views will change.
I’d like to add that CAFE is not best idea. I do remember when the CAFE noose was tightening its grip in the 80’s. To my mind, that was something of a golden era in automotive evolution. Performance, efficiency, and emissions and to some extent, build quality quality were all improving by leaps and bounds, particularly in contrast to the dark ages the 70’s cars were.
CAFE’s light truck exception was its fatal Achilles’ heel exploited in the pickup truck/suv craze. The exemptions in the safety rules for light trucks & suvs was another convenient loophole too, but I digress.
Petroleum taxes, increasing in a predictable ever increasing schedule over the years, plowed directly back into highways and alternative renewable energy sources would be my substitute for CAFE, and to pave the way to the eventual and inevitable transition away from petroleum fuels.
The sooner we start the better. Cramming for the finals is a bitch.
Here’s a novel idea.
Let taxpayers keep these billions of dollars and buy whatever the hell cars they want.
Oh wait. They might buy cars we don’t like.
Can’t allow that. We must FORCE them to do something they might not do otherwise.