President's "Freedom
Car" Plan Does Nothing to Address Current Fuel Economy
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For
Immediate Release:
February 6, 2003
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Contacts:
Lana Pollack or James Clift, MEC: 517-487-9539
Vicki Levengood, N.E.T./MI: 517-333-5786
Charles
Griffith, Ecology Center: 734-761-3186, ext. 116
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Lansing,
MI--Today, as President Bush reiterated his call for a hydrogen-powered
"Freedom Car," Michigan environmentalists fear his
announcement is more empty promises from the administration
and domestic automakers. The President announced the program
in last week's State of the Union address.
"Since
coming to office the President has fought every meaningful
increase in fuel economy for trucks and SUVs," said Charles
Griffith of The Ecology Center. "The President's Freedom
Car R&D initiative only continues this approach, by leaving
the problem for future generations to address."
Nearly
70% of U.S. oil consumption is currently used for transportation,
and much of the increased future consumption will go there
as well. Fuel efficiency in the more than 300 million cars
and SUVs being produced between now and when the first "Freedom
Car" may roll off the assembly line (about 2020) must
be address in order to reduce oil consumption.
"In
1970 Richard Nixon pledged we would produce a pollution-free
car in five years. We're still waiting for that pollution-free
car," said Vicki Levengood, Michigan Representative,
National Environmental Trust. "In the meantime, we could
use existing technology to clean up the cars of today and
tomorrow."
Last year,
Congress considered a proposal by Senators John Kerry and
John McCain that would have raised the standard for all vehicles
by about 14 miles per gallon by 2015, but the Senate rejected
the idea, at the President's prodding. The President in turn
offered a 1.5-mile per gallon increase in fuel efficiency
standards for SUVs.
"The
President's commitment to develop a clean hydrogen car is
praiseworthy, but he can't substitute action 20 years down
the road as an excuse to do nothing about our problems today,"
said Lana Pollack, President of the Michigan Environmental
Council. "Tax incentives structured to help the auto
industry market ready-to-go technologies to improve fuel efficiency
would bring far greater near-term benefits to our domestic
economy, demonstrate our commitment to protecting the global
environment and provide us greater national security."
