You may not be aware that 14 states, with a combined population of OVER 50% of the US population, had already endorsed the California mileage standard, which is what Obama’s team has just endorsed! George Bush (and the car industry) fought the states’ rights to set fuel economy standards tooth & nail.
Obama is just doing what the MAJORITY of Amercians already want!!!
So, the people have already decided, and, unless you don’t believe in the democratic process, you have no choice but to go along. If you seriously object, there are ways out; become a trucking company, a small businessman, or a farmer, and drive your truck to church and the supermarket.
So Obama not only knows how to run businesses, he also apparently knows how to design engines. And GM and Chrysler, currently at the mercy of the government, can only say “how high” when they’re told to jump–of course they didn’t say anything disparaging during yesterday’s announcement–but I wonder what serious tradeoffs will have to occur for the new standards to be met.
“We don’t have much choice really…” This is a problem for me. Back in the 70’s and 80’s medium and large cars became mediocre for a time as they tried to adapt to the mpg/emissions standards of the day. Eventually the emissions/performance/mpg came together and in the 90’s through now things seemed better. But now, the increase is so much more dramatic than back then that I wonder how the engineering will come about. And will they majorly jack up gas prices and penalties to try to “force” us into tiny boxes?
The proposed rebate for gas guzzlers (that will then be shredded) also seems wasteful and expensive to me. The cars rucksSUV’s will wear out through natural use and be replaced when the time comes (without rebates). And many old cars are driven few miles annually to begin with…how much will this cut down on emissions? Take into account the overall environmental impact of the many resources used to create each new car (especially batteries for hybrids) and dispose of the old cars and I wonder how big the net gain will be.
Yes, it appears you have been lied to. The combined force of the oil industry (with Bush in its backpocket), the car industry and climate change deniers tried to smother the states trying to set mileage and emission standards, claiming that only the Federal EPA could do this and that CO2 was not a pollutant.
This time things have changed for good, and the role of the feds will change as ell.
Batteries can easily made recyclable; much more so than gas motors, transmissions and all the lubricants associated with them. Ever look at a junk yards non crushable components ? Too many of us look at the limited down side of EV’s instead of the comparative environmental advantages over the cars we now use. And oil,and many of our cars are not overseas commodities now ?
The concerns you raise should have been raised earlier when so much of our the industry went abroad.
Our loyalty to the automotive industry should only extend as far as the people they employ. Otherwise, the are no more domestic entities (the majority of GM stock holders are foreign investors ) than Toyota or Honda…who really cares about their solvency except as a US job provider ? Let Obama do what he must to maintain as much employment as possible. They deserve to be at the “mercy” of US…we are the government.
But, Bush’s supporters were (and apparently still are) of the opinion that less Federal regulation is desirable. Now, you are telling me that they actually favored more Federal regulation and less control for the states! As Captain Renault said in Casablanca, “I am shocked, shocked I say”.
Next, you will probably tell me that the people in the previous administration who took us into war had failed to serve in the military themselves, that the US auto industry was not competent in its efforts to compete in the global marketplace over the past couple of decades, and that banks and brokerage houses engaged in unsound financial practices as a result of a lack of regulation by the Bush Administration. I would certainly have a hard time believing any of those scenarios!
As the little boy said to Shoeless Joe Jackson, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”
It just isn’t possible that the previous administration erred in any of its policy decisions over the past 8 years, is it? If you tell me that they erred, my world would be shaken!
It is in part the government’s job to watch out for us. Look at the exmples of gov’t entities that fail to do their jobs. Bridges colapse, peanut-butter, and Wall St. No one likes to be watched over, but if our government doesn’t watch, and organized citizens can’t, then bad things happen.
Imagine if the staus quo was allowed to continue unchecked, and in the future things got very bad, very fast. We would all be wishing someone would have stepped in to increase gas milage, fix bridges, save us from our shortsighted consumption and greed.
When the conservative republicans want to set standards for banks that come to the govt. asking for money - that’s “accountability”, but if the democrats ask for the same thing - that’s “socialism”. Same with the auto companies. They came to the govt for help, the govt didn’t go in and try to take over the auto companies. Again, it is socialism because Obama is steering the ship of state, if it was McCain in office it would be “accountability”.
I’m tired of the conservative gloom and doom, and our country is heading down the drain. Obama is doing something while the last administration was simply tied up in their shorts and did zippo. I’ll take the direction we are heading now over where Bush took us any day. There will be mistakes but something is happening in Washington for a change.
There will be some pain in achieving any goal, but it’s far less than the pain we’ll all suffer if we do nothing. As Caddyman said, we don’t have much choice.
The Obama budget and bailouts represent more money than has ever been spent by the government ever, by anyone, by a LOOONNNGGG shot! He is a socialist. Socialism has never worked and it will fail here as well. Just because “something” is happening doesn’t mean it’s good. What happened to all you hippies and your “question authority” stance on the government? You would follow Obama off a cliff if he said it would bring change and hope…
I disagree. Iron and aluminum are easily recycled, and the used oil and lubricants can be used again in the production asphalt or simply burned for heat in the winter.
The government is going to save us from our shortsightedness and greed? You make it sound like politicians are a bunch of honest, do a good turn daily Boy Scouts…The government is supposed to be kept in check by the people, not the other way around!
Ensuring that private contractors (paid from the public coffer) actually use sound construction materials and methods in order to prevent catastrophic collapse of a bridge is not “telling us how to live”. In fact, this would be an excellent example of protecting us from a domestic threat–in this case, the corporate greed of the contractor who build a substandard bridge.
Regularly conducting honest inspections of food processing facilities in order to ensure that food products such as peanut butter are not contaminated with disease-causing organisms is not “telling us what to eat”. This type of inspection is to protect us from a domestic threat, which in this case once again is the corporate greed that allowed unhealthful conditions (in this case, infestation with pigeons and other forms of animal life) to exist in several of the food processing facilities of the now-defunct Peanut Corporation of America.
Keeping regulations in place so that banks and brokerage houses do not engage in unsound financial practices is not “telling us how to live”. Instead, it is a situation of protecting both the citizenry and the economy from the damages caused by financial institutions doing whatever they please, whether those practices are sound or not. In my book, that is also a case of protecting us from a domestic threat–which once again appears to be corporate greed.
Unfortunately, the removal of much of the regulations that previously existed is what led to the three situations mentioned by MN Driver. Would you like to guess which administration was instrumental in most of that removal of previously existing regulations?
In case you think that I fit your image of a wild-eyed revolutionary, I am a financially “comfortable” confirmed capitalist who suffered capital losses from the events of the past couple of years. However, I am able to put the greater good ahead of my personal gain, and I would gladly lose some long-term gain in favor of corporate policies that don’t add to the pollution of our planet or that don’t continue to deplete our shrinking resources. And, since most corporations will not do these things willingly, then the government is–at last–forcing their hand, so to speak. This is not socialism, but rather, it is just being prudent in the long-term interests of our citizenry and our planet.
Addendum: Now that Xebedaih has removed his verbiage about the government “telling us how to live” and “telling us what to eat”, my post does not make quite as much sense as it did previously. However, I will opt to leave it as-is.
Pay particular attention to what is being called a “disconnect” and the idiotic timing of this garbage (Some folks have noticed that the economy is not in very good shape right now). Not everybody can go out and replace their vehicles in the near future. It will take years and years.
I think the government should require mandatory coffin handles on all these little s_ _ _ shakers. That way our fire departments and EMS folks wouldn’t waste time and money “extracting” or scraping people out of the things to put them into coffins.
I have said before that I won’t allow any of my family members drive/ride in small cars. I’m not too concerned, though. This isn’t going to work. When people see the cap & tax and rising energy prices, all hell will break loose. Look what even the left coast Californians just did with modest tax increase proposals.
This isn’t the crap we need right now. We need to start building nuclear power plants as fast as we can. They take years and years, too. But that is our solution to clean, affordable energy and we’ve buried our heads up our . . . sand.