Filed under: Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota, Carbon Offset, Legislation and Policy
They’re launching a counterattack, according to Automotive News (subs req’d). The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (consisting of the Big 2.5, Toyota and five others) submits that California regulators and those of the tagalong states have been misleading the public about the benefits of such regulations.
While under oath in a federal trial in Vermont, regulators contradicted themselves by saying that the rules they have been touting will have no effect on global climate change, and compliance with them will be almost impossible for the automakers. Even if the entire country adopted the regulations the State of California is attempting to implement under a waiver of the Clean Air Act, it would have no measurable impact on climate change.
The other grounds in favor of the Alliance is the fact that regulation of fuel economy – which all this legislation is supposedly about – is a responsibility entrusted exclusively to the federal government, not that of the state.
Aside from the statement that there would be no measurable improvement in the environment, it seems as if the Rebel Alliance has a pretty solid case, and I hope it goes well for them. It does seem that they are indeed putting forth a sincere, if belated, effort to build more efficient cars. It seems slow because gas prices are high now, not later. What the impatient and uneducated individual does not recognize is the fact that it takes years of development before a new car rolls off the line, and emissions regulations cannot change that. The automotive industry is a business, not a public service, and still runs on profit. Actions of the automakers must be well planned and thought out, and still elicit a return on the investment, despite our impatience. If you’ve paid your $155 for this year, read the Automotive News article here.
[Source: Automotive News – subscription required]
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