{"id":13525,"date":"2008-11-21T16:13:56","date_gmt":"2008-11-21T23:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/11\/21\/running-out-of-gas.html"},"modified":"2008-11-21T16:13:56","modified_gmt":"2008-11-21T23:13:56","slug":"running_out_of_gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/21\/running_out_of_gas.html","title":{"rendered":"Running out of gas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not surprisingly, the Republican talking point answer seems to be<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Unions (of course)<\/li>\n
  2. Safety standards<\/li>\n
  3. Economy standards<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I love the last. Sales have collapsed at the Big Three primarily because so few people suddenly wanted to buy (especially with the economy tanking) the gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks with gas verging on $5\/gal. for a while — but the government is putting these guys out of business by making an incremental CAFE standard? Give me a break.<\/p>\n

    A few recent examples of this meme:<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u2013 MITT ROMNEY: Well, government did [cause a lot of this]. There\u2019s no question but that the CAFE standards have put an unusual burden on the domestic automobile manufacturers.<\/strong> And our energy policies as a country continue to put burdens on domestic manufacturers. That\u2019s just \u2014 that\u2019s reality. [11\/19\/08]<\/p>\n

    \u2013 WILLIAM KRISTOL: Well, one problem with the auto industry is we have been telling them how to operate an awful lot, you know, in terms of CAFE standards and other things<\/strong>, probably which should not have been most \u2014 may have been the most \u2014 not the most intelligent way to help that industry. [11\/16\/08]<\/p>\n

    \u2013 SEAN HANNITY: They [the government] \u2014 you know, between the unions, between trade policy, safety standards, CAFE standards, you know, economy, fuel economy standards, they\u2019re forcing these auto companies to be in a position where they\u2019re not as competitive. <\/strong>[11\/14\/08]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Because American car companies are too stupid to manufacture cars that match the economy standards of foreign car companies selling vehicles here? Is that really <\/em>what they are saying?<\/p>\n

    It’s a bullshit answer anyway. The incremental new CAFE standards just got passed (for future implementation) last year, hardly something likely to bankrupt the auto companies even if they had to start from scratch to figure out how to improve their vehicles. Which they don’t.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Last year\u2019s stonewalling attempts by the auto industry notwithstanding, improving fuel economy is not difficult for the Big Three. As the Sierra Club explained in 2006, \u201cThe technology exists today<\/a> to make all new vehicles average 40 miles per gallon within ten years.\u201d A 2002 report by the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems of the National Research Council found that technologies existed then that \u201cwould significantly reduce fuel consumption within 15 years<\/a>\u201d \u2014 technologies that manufacturers were \u201calready offering or introducing\u201d in overseas markets.<\/p>\n

    What\u2019s more, those existing technologies would hardly bankrupt the auto industry. NPR reported that technologies to raise fuel-efficiency \u201cto around 33 mpg across the fleet pay for themselves within three to four years<\/a>.\u201d Indeed, Tom Cole of the Center for Automotive Research, said that with only about $1,000 worth of changes, \u201ca conventional, gas-powered car could go 25 percent farther<\/a> on a single gallon of gas.\u201d The Union of Concerned Scientists designed its own highly efficient SUV comparable to the Ford Explorer that doubled its fuel economy<\/a> (from 17 mpg to 30 mpg). The lifetime fuel savings paid back the additional technology cost of $2,560 in less than three years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    How about we bail out the Auto Companies — on the condition that everyone who is a prefixed VP (Senior, Group, Executive) or higher is fired with no severance pay? I’m sure there’s plenty of talent that can take over for them — and certainly they cannot do worse than the current batch of idiots in charge in Detroit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Not surprisingly, the Republican talking point answer seems to be: Unions (of course) Safety standards Economy standards I love the last. Sales have collapsed at the Big Three primarily because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-business","category-cars"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":132991,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/03\/06\/its-not-the-age-its-the-mileage-requirements.html","url_meta":{"origin":13525,"position":0},"title":"It's not the age, it's the mileage requirements","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Mar-17 11:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, let's be honest -- every the federal govenment has suggested that fleet miles-per-gallon values be increased, automobile manufacturers have trumpeted the apocalypse. \"It's not technically possible!\" \"The auto industry will collapse!\" \"Consumers won't have it!\"And, every time, since the 1970s, it's been technically possible, auto manufactrers have stayed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136394,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/11\/trump-meeting-with-automakers-about-how-to-consume-more-gasoline.html","url_meta":{"origin":13525,"position":1},"title":"Trump meeting with automakers about how to consume more gasoline","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 11-May-18 8:29am","format":false,"excerpt":"Because of course he is. Though to be fair, it seems that Trump's plans actually go further than even the automobile manufacturers want. They kind of seem to like being able to show increasing fuel efficiency and value for consumers. They just want more time to implement them than the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/cars-on-highway.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15162,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/building-a-better-light-bulb.html","url_meta":{"origin":13525,"position":2},"title":"Building a better light bulb","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 9-Jul-09 9:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The NY Times has an interesting article on improvements in incandescent light bulb technology, as manufacturers, driven by government energy efficiency mandates and competing CFL (and LED) technology, try to come up with alternatives. \u201cThere\u2019s a massive misperception that incandescents are going away quickly,\u201d said Chris Calwell, a researcher with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/uncle-fester-light-bulb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28219,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/06\/10\/drill-baby-drill-redux.html","url_meta":{"origin":13525,"position":3},"title":"Drill, Baby, Drill (Redux)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 10-Jun-12 3:22pm","format":false,"excerpt":"No great surprise, of course, given that:\"Leading the Romney campaign\u2019s energy strategy is Harold Hamm, who made almost all of his $12 billion fortune from oil and gas drilling in North Dakota.\"When the only tool you have is a (very profitable) oil rig, every problem looks like a well. Embedded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/images0-focus-opensocial.googleusercontent.com\/gadgets\/proxy?container=focus&gadget=a&resize_h=100&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F06%2FRomney-drilling-rig-speech-300x205.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24779,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/23\/stay-class-and-seasonal-michigan-state-government.html","url_meta":{"origin":13525,"position":4},"title":"Stay classy (and seasonal), Michigan state government!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 23-Dec-11 12:15pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Short version: So here's a cheerful Michigan Merry Christmas, without even a lump of coal, to everyone whose family doesn't conform to our religious standards! #ddtb Embedded Link Michigan Bans All Domestic Partnership Benefits Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has signed into law a bill that prohibits all public employers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8664,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/09\/12\/the_unexpected.html","url_meta":{"origin":13525,"position":5},"title":"The unexpected cost of high gasoline prices …","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 12-Sep-05 2:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... may include replacing some gas pumps. I remember back in the Dark Ages when gas first ticked up over $0.99\/gallon that a huge number of pumps -- in particular...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}