Fuel economy standards
Before I submit my letter showing how improved fuel economy standards would help Colorado consumers, economic growth, and national security, I felt compelled to relay that I have heard that automakers have been active attempting to get papers to curb their coverage of this vital issue.
I do not know if you have been subject to automaker pressure, but in any case I would ask that you either print my letter below, or, better yet, editorialize on this subject yourself (or both), as the need for strong fuel economy standards to protect our oil and environmental security is a subject too important not to be heard.
My letter is below: I have made my personal effort for U.S. oil and environmental security by purchasing a Prius, and it is time for Colorado ‘s representatives to do the same.
The U.S. House is about to vote on an energy bill that could lock-in the Senate’s strong but sensible 35 miles-per-gallon target. The National Academy of Sciences has concluded that automakers already have the technology to make all their vehicles more fuel-efficient without sacrificing safety or size, and the House bill would gived more than a decade to reach the 35 mpg target (remember that a decade ago, no one in America even heard of a hybrid).
Once these cleaner cars hit the road, it would result in over $500 million in savings at the gas pump each year and over 3,000 jobs created in Colorado , and would save more oil than we currently import from Saudi Arabia nationwide. My congressman, John Salazar, and every representative in our state must take the responsibility to help bring these vehicles to market, just as Congress overrode automaker complaints about mandatory air bags, seat belts and catalytic converters.
This letter has not been edited.
Well, it seems such a pity no one appointed Wayne dictator. He seems to think that forcing car companies to make the smaller cars that people aren't buying as well as they are the big ones will make a difference. He's right. Such meddling will cause prices to rise and imports to increase because we already know that if you want better fuel economy you can get it with foreign cars that are already on the market. But, to Wayne's dismay, people aren't buying enough of them.
Perhaps you remember acid rain. It was a direct result of catalytic converters putting more sulfer in the air which created the acid and damaged crops. Out here our alkali soild protected us.
MBTE was pushed on the populace and the oil companies to reduce emissions. Only later did we discover it was a greater, and far more dangerous, polluter and a greater health danger as well.
Let the people buy what they want and leave the manufacturers alone to build the cars and trucks the people want to buy because as sure as I'm sitting here there won't be a new rush to buy hybrids, all of the sheep are already in line, nor will there be a great reduction in the number of people who want to think and decide for themselves. If you really examine the underlying costs of the hybirds and ethanol you will discover it is a much greater danger as well, but that is something time will have to teach many.
WE already know the consequences of believing the scary words:
"We're from the government and we're here to help you."
As they said in the play "Teahouse of the August Moon," "When governments come to help us we hide everything, fast, fast.
Chrysler has estimated that the new mileage standards will cost about $7,500 per vehicle. That means that the price of a vehicle will go up about $7,500 per vehicle and YOU pay that much more. Sound good so far? Well it only gets worse.
That mandated price hike is a major boost to inflation and interest rates will be forced move higher. That means a higher cost of corporate capital that will slow the economy and reduce new job creation and slow income growth. America's standard of living declines. Got you attention yet? Well, it only gets worse.
Detroit isn't making money right now, they have been unprofitable during the past 3 years of an economic boom. $7,500 per vehicle puts the Big-3 into bankruptcy. They are out of business. Even faster if we have a recession in 2-3 years. Hundreds of thousands of Big -3 employees will be thrown out of work, along with an equal number of folks employes to support the necessary auto infrastructure and supply chain. Tobacco Road and The Grapes of Wrath for a few miilliom folks. And it only gets worse.
Because the new standard require the building of smaller and lighter vehicles, the highway death rate will catapult north. Its gets even worse if YOU are in a Prius that takes on a Peterbilt.
Meanwhile, ANWR is out of bounds, 85% of the outer-continental shelf is out of bounds (as China partners with Cuba to drill 45 miles off the Florida coast), we havn't built a nuke power plant in 30 years, we haven't built a new oil refinery in 30 years and we have hardly tapped into our 250 year supply of coal.
If America doesn't wake up and start doing the right things in our own self-interests, then we deserve what we get.