In the past few days American President Barack Obama has made a number of daring, and quite frankly refreshing political moves. From his interview on al-Arabia television to his freezing of federal rules that may benefit the gray wolf, to his support of California’s wish to set its own automobile emissions standards, it appears the new president in on the right track when it comes to environmental protection.
Fourteen states, including California and New York have looked to adopt stricter automobile emissions regulations thanks to funding from the federal government, but in 2007 this funding was denied due to the cost of the programs as seen by the Bush Administration.
Naturally this statement sparked a wealth of replies from the Top Three, as well as Toyota and other popular foreign auto manufacturers. All seem to be supportive of a nationwide set of standards, but in the end their statements appear hollow, and more than a little forced, all of them continuing to say they support saving “energy and reducing admissions. “ [Statement from GM]. But considering the past lawsuit against California’s emissions standards filed by, among others, GM, Ford and Toyota the public comes to wonder what the big automotive manufacturers are really after.
The lawsuit, filed in 2004, was based mainly on the tenet that manufactures would have to re-vamp or even scrap certain car models in order to meet the planned emissions standards. A Toyota spokesperson was reported as noting that the company had only two models that would meet the planned standard, the Prius and the manual version of the Echo. “The rest of our cars and trucks would have to be completely re-engineered or eliminated.”
But mostly the complaints seemed to rise against the idea of state-by-state laws for emissions, limiting what cars could be sold in certain states, effectively crippling the automotive market and in the end, making things a whole lot more complicated.
But mostly the complaints seemed to rise against the idea of state-by-state laws for emissions, limiting what cars could be sold in certain states, effectively crippling the automotive market and in the end, making things a whole lot more complicated.
Much has changed in the automotive market since 2004, however. The popularity of electric and hybrid cars has skyrocketed and with tougher emissions laws, the benefits of these automobiles begin to outweigh the negatives. With Obama backing California and New York’s decision we may soon see the nationwide standard automobile manufacturers say they want. In the end they may have to re-engineer a good portion of their models anyway, but I would venture to say its time the automotive industry bit the bullet and aimed directly at the future of the cleaner, more environmentally friendly car.
I am an junior English major/ Philosophy minor at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Currently I am spending the spring of 2009 studying at the University College Cork in Cork, Ireland.
