OK, so amidst all the gnashing of teeth and whining and moaning over “what to do” about Detroit and the big three auto makes economic woes, in comes the folks over at TreeHugger to put an environmental spin on what should be done if we (the taxpayer) should pony up some do-re-me for the likes of GM, Ford & Chrysler.
The 3 Pre-Conditions are:
1 - Stop Trying to Block Environmental Regulations
2 - Establish More Competitive Business Plans
3 - Mandate Greater Commitment to Hybrids & Greater Fuel Efficiency
#1, I can see as being sensible, especially form a green perspective, but greens also have to understand that you can’t just wave your hand and environmental regs will be met. Saying, “We want a CAFE of 55MPG by next year” makes as much sense as saying “We want a functioning time machine by next year.” Then again, regs are just regs. The government did mandate things like safety glass and seat belts, and the car companies, after grumbling, complied.
#2, are they TRYING to be really obvious? Because if there’s one thing a bunch of bean-counting, bottom line driven international corporations like the Big Three AREN’T interested in, it’s being competitive and making money.
#3 Sure, but isn’t this just restating point #1 in a finer way? I’ve got no problem with raising CAFE standards. They are, to me, just like any other reg. Government says, ‘cars got to have duel braking systems,’ then you figure out how to fit them into your cars. Government says, ‘Cars gotta go farther on a gallon of gas’, then you figure out how to do that.
I remember reading about when Gordon Murray met with the British version of the DoT to go over the street regs for the (then-upcoming) McLaren F1 supercar. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, “They gave me all of the regs, and they were on one sheet of paper. I half chuckled when I got looked at it. They seemed to be slightly offended, “You don’t like our regulations Mr. Murray?” “Oh, no. It’s not that at all. You should just see what the FIA says a car has to be to be legal.”‘
If outfits like Penske and Ferrari and McLaren can jump through all the hoops that a bunch of anal-retentive Frenchmen can come up with, I fail to see why The Big Three can’t meet some fatter, slower moving targets.
Source: TreeHugger
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