In the end the Congress still only serves one group
What a joke our congress has become. Just more proof they don’t work for the American people, but actually for the American Corporations.
Automakers would be required to meet an industrywide average of 35 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks, including SUVs, by 2020, the first increase by Congress in car fuel efficiency in 32 years.
Seriously? 13 years to get to 35 MPG?
Sadly it is a Democrat too that is the monkey wrench
But Democratic leaders were stymied over disagreement on the auto fuel efficiency issues as Dingell, the longest-serving member of the House and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, insisted on some provisions to ease the transition for automakers.
But even sadder…
House Republicans have called the legislation a “non-energy bill” because, they said, it ignores any measures to promote domestic production of oil, natural gas or increased use of coal.
Is that typical response by the GOP. Big Oil and Energy companies have lobbied to kill the bill too. What a joke these guys are. ALL OF THEM
Tags: Bush's Fubar Economy, Business, National Dems, National Republicans, Politics
Not that I necessarily want a Congress that is “effective” in terms of passing new legislation, you have put the spotlight on the problem: where it really matters, there are not two distinct political parties, there are only Republican and Democratic wings of the Demopublican Party.
Why do we have SUVs? Because Congress created the exception in mileage standards for “light trucks,” and the American people wanted the larger vehicles.
But your notion that the lengthy time in delaying new mileage standards is a boon to corporations is wrong; it is to minimize the impact on the American consumer. Whatever engineering changes have to be made in automobiles to reach the new standards will have to be made by all of the maunufacturers, and they will simply pass the additional costs on to their customers; they’ll have no choice in the matter, if they wish to remain profitable.
How about do what Brazil does and go to sugar ethanol that produces oxygen and water as its by product?
Oh, and the higher CAFE requirements will STILL hurt the domestic industry the most. they are cash strapped and putting money into fuel economy will delay efforts to reorganize.
Brian
The problem with going to Brazil-type ethanol production, I got told the last time I was in Iowa, is that water is indeed the byproduct of ethanol production, but it is de-oygenated and polluted water. There is a huge problem with ethanol coming up in the midwest because the profits are now being offset to a large extent by the need to deal with river pollution.
Steve- I hate to ask but only have a little time here, but let’s do some research, the Brazil model is a good one, though not without flaws, it has transformed the country. My friend is a biologist at the university there who was working on the problem there and says it reducing pollution for one of the first times in history in that city. Last time I saw it it worked well and Rio was surprisingly smog free compared with Rome, Bangkok, or Paris, or London or LA….and especially Mexico City. If you look up my posts on the EFW question on first state, I think I came up with some very good solutions for energy independence. So, how about you and I work this out and get a system that will work and present it to Carper, Biden and Castle. The one I propose over there would make us a regional energy provider so we can lower prices here and essentially run our own energy production effort as a state, sell excess back to the grid and make a profit from it to lower taxes as well.