A transformation, similar to the one that took place following World War II, is needed to save the U.S. auto industry and set it on a new course for reduced fuel consumption, according to Michael Renner, a senoir researcher at Worldwatch Institute.
Under direction of the Roosevelt administration, the U.S. auto industry completely retooled to produce tanks and armored cars during the war, and then just as quickly turned around and began producing vehicles again, as the nation transitioned to a peacetime economy.
Renner asserts that the current economic and climate crisis calls for a similar break with business as usual, and urges the federal government to demand a total revolution of the auto industry, as terms for a financial bailout.
An injection of public resources into the auto industry should take place under stringent conditions (we absolutely agree with these conditions!):
* Replace current management at the Big Three, and impose limits on executive compensation.
* Mandate R&D and commercialization efforts to focus unequivocally on developing high-efficiency vehicles;
* Washington should adopt far more ambitious fuel efficiency targets – at least 50 mpg by 2020, with continued improvements in later years.
* Outlaw the sale of vehicles that do not achieve a minimal level of fuel efficiency, with a floor that rises each year on an ambitious sliding scale.
* Buy up the least efficient vehicles currently on the road.
* Offer tax rebates or other incentives for consumers who purchase the most-efficient models.
Read "A Green Deal for Transportation":
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