Filed under: MPG, Legislation and Policy
John Dingell has been in the House of Representatives for fifty-two years, seven years longer than Barak Obama has been alive. When the prospective Democratic presidential nominee came to Detroit recently and berated the domestic carmakers for not building more efficient cars, Dingell was not pleased.
Over the past half century Dingell has made a point of defending his home town industry at every turn. While it’s not totally unreasonable for a politician to promote policies that benefit business in their district, it’s time for Dingell to change his tune. I live in Dingell’s district and a lot of autoworkers have lost their jobs in the past decade. If the carmakers don’t start making some serious headway on fuel economy they will continue getting less and less competitive.
Instead of criticizing Obama, Dingell should be promoting policies to light a fire under the companies in his constituency. If the carmakers are forced to get more efficient, they will end up being in a more advantageous position in the market. Dingell should also be looking at ways to stimulate demand for more efficient cars.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
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