UAW Head Ron Gettelfinger on fuel mileage regulations
The UAW has already gone on record as supporting the newer (and lower) bipartisan bill which would raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards by 28 to 40 percent. This alternative bill would require cars to average fuel economy of 36 miles per gallon by 2022 with light trucks being required to meet 30 miles per gallon by 2025. This standard is being hailed as tough but reachable, while other bills are being deemed impossible, despite the differences being only a few miles per gallon higher and a few years sooner.
Ron Gettelfinger has posted his view here. The posting is part of a column which you can find at The Detroit News. Gettelfinger points out that there are many other industries which should also be impacted by any rules changes to better the environment. This argument certainly has merit, although that does not mean that cars should be left out of the equation. I hope that by 2022 the standards will be much easier to meet with electric cars being more mainstream. Biofuels also hold out hopes of lowering the carbon emissions from automobiles. Should so much effort be spent fighting these standards, or should that effort be spent on finding alternatives to fossil fuels entirely? Yeah, yeah, yeah... we all already know the answer to that one!
[Source: Ron Gettelfinger / The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Simone 1:24PM (7/07/2007)
Has anyone actually seen the wording of this bill? I find it very hard to believe that the Axis of Automakers is supporting any legislation to raise mpg, while simultaneously being embroiled in an ongoing horsepower war. Call me a cynic, but there has got to be a giant loophole or subsidy or concession hidden in there somewhere. Maybe vehicles over 3000 lbs are exempt. Maybe safety regulations get rolled back. Trust me, there's something in it for the automakers. If it's not there yet, someone's just waiting to quietly sneak it in at the 13th hour.
And what is the UAW getting out of this bill? Free national healthcare? I know they've been wanting the entire nation to pick up the healthcare/pensions of their elite band of brothers. Maybe that's why they let the Big 2.5 off the hook so easily. Is it so hard to believe? We still have legislation from a century ago that grants pensions and benefits and exemptions to railway workers.
Bookmark my words, there is something rotten afoot.
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