‘Bulo hates to link to the charlatans at CNBC, but that’s where he found this story.
Granted, it’s a small drop in the bucket, and granted, in some ways, it’s a symbolic gesture, but still this policy provides legitimate assistance to the auto companies, reduces gasoline consumption, and sets an example for people to buy fuel-efficient cars:
President Barack Obama, saying he was committed to a strong U.S. auto industry, announced on Thursday that the government would purchase 17,600 new fuel-efficient vehicles from American automakers by June 1.
Obama said the vehicles, part of the U.S. government fleet, would be purchased from General Motors , privately held Chrysler, and Ford , all of which had an existing contract with the federal government’s General Services Administration.
The president said the GSA would spend about $285 million in funds from the $787 billion dollar Recovery Act approved by Congress earlier this year to buy the 17,600 commercially available fuel-efficient vehicles.
“As a part of our commitment to the American auto industry, I charged my administration with using Recovery Act funds to purchase a new fleet of fuel-efficient government vehicles to increase demand for our American auto companies and stimulate the economy,” Obama said in a statement announcing the decision.
The announcement on Thursday includes the purchase of 2,500 hybrid sedans that will be ordered by April 15, the largest one-time purchase of hybrid vehicles for the government fleet in history, the White House said.
Swapping older federal cars for hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles will reduce gasoline consumption by 1.3 million gallons per year and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 26 million pounds, the White House said.
Well, the Beast Who Slumbers despises the phrase ‘a win-win situation’. So, ‘bulo would like to know from his loyal reader(s): Is there any way that this is not a win-win situation? Muchas gracias in advance.