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Democrats Plan to Press Automakers on Fuel Efficiency
Sales of General Motors' compact Chevrolet Cobalt are down this year. U.S. automakers say their customers don't want the small cars that stricter fuel-economy standards would require.
(By David Zalubowski -- Associated Press)
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"Chairman Dingell and I are determined to fashion legislation that addresses global warming and do it in a very constructive way -- and our committee has jurisdiction over this," Boucher said.
At Wednesday's hearing, the executives will try to ensure that the auto industry doesn't take all the blame for global warming. "Of all the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, about one-fifth come from cars and trucks," said Ziad S. Ojakli, Ford's vice president of government and community relations. "We want to be part of the solution but we don't want to be the entire solution."
The fuel-economy debate has been deadlocked for years in Washington, with the auto industry arguing about costs and complaining that new rules would force them to build smaller vehicles that consumers don't want.
"They said the same thing in 1975 when Congress doubled the fuel-economy standards," Markey said. Setting aside arguments on how tougher rules could harm the industry's bottom line, Markey said, "I think the greater threat is that they don't have more fuel-efficient automobiles and light trucks" to compete.
When gasoline prices soared after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, U.S. consumers began a shift to smaller vehicles. Because of the slowing sales of large trucks, Detroit automakers took one of their worst financial tumbles in decades, which forced the closing of dozens of plants and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
The United States is falling behind other nations that are pushing for better fuel economy as concerns mount over global warming. Automakers in the European Union agreed to voluntary increases in fuel-economy standards next year that will lift the average to 44.2 miles per gallon, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. In Japan, average vehicle fuel economy tops 45 mpg. China's level is in the mid-30s and projected to rise, propelled by government policy.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group, is engaged in court battles in California and other states that are seeking to lower global-warming emissions. For years, industry executives denied the existence of global warming and in the 1990s helped fund groups that sought to debunk the science behind climate change, said Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global-warming program.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), a member of the energy and air quality subcommittee, said Democrats in the House are committed to action on global warming, even though the focus now is most heavily on the war in Iraq.
"In view of the urgency of the issue, I think we have to push the envelope," Baldwin said. "We have to push the discussion beyond the comfort area of all the participants and see where we land."
