Obama Demands Big Three Go Green on Their Home Turf
May 08, 2007

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama visited Detroit on Monday and delivered a speech no one here wanted to hear. He demanded the Big Three automaker increase fuel-efficiency by 4 percent a year –- about a mile per gallon a year.

Speaking to a sold-out crowd of 2,000 business leaders at the Detroit Economic Club, Obama said if automakers improved fuel mileage, as president, he would provide up to $7 billion through 2017 to help them defray retiree health care costs, or award them $3 billion over 10 years to help them retool their plants to make more fuel-efficient vehicles.

That's a laughable amount -- not even a drop in the bucket of what it is expected to cost not only automakers but ultimately consumers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the fuel standards Obama supports would require an investment of $114 billion. NHTSA estimates the Big Three would bear 80 percent of the cost, amounting to about $3,000 to $5,000 more for the price of each vehicle.

"Today, there are two kinds of car companies: those that mass produce fuel-efficient cars, and those that will. The American auto industry can no longer afford to be one of those that will," he said.

He added: "America simply cannot continue on this path. The need to drastically change our energy policy is no longer a debatable proposition. For the sake of our security, our economy, our jobs and our planet, the age of oil must end in our time."

Obama criticized U.S. automakers for constantly lobbying against higher fuel-efficiency standards. “Even as they've shed thousands of jobs and billions in profits over the past few years, they continued to reward failure in some cases with lucrative bonuses for CEOs," he said.

Needless to say, Obama’s speech drew only polite applause -- and plenty of criticism by auto company and union spokesmen afterward.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:25 AM under Business , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine