Green Options

Entrepreneurs have begun to retrofit ordinary combustion vehicles into all-electrics or plug-in hybrids. Here’s why this could be the “big fix” that the auto-industry needs.

Are we stuck with our oil addiction? What if millions of our middle-aged vehicles could be reincarnated as superior versions of their youthful selves, while developing new revenue streams for Detroit? What if that “fix” could start reducing the billion a day we spend on imported oil, while creating tens of thousands of local jobs in communities and cutting greenhouse gases from fossil fuels?

Automakers could do all this—by thinking of vehicles as upgradable high-tech products. For example: A pioneering Chicago startup makes a prototype Ford F-150 pickup with an all-electric range of 30 miles per charge. After that it’s a hybrid, boosting the best-selling truck’s 15 city miles per gallon to 21.

Members of Michigan’s Congressional Delegation are pushing to double a $25 billion Energy Department program designed that provides loans to U.S. automakers and parts suppliers for advanced technology retooling.

So how much does a foreclosed home in Detroit cost? Two weeks ago, you could buy a home for $1 in the city. Today the lowest price I could find was $40. The city’s morale has dipped so low that only 14 percent of voters turned out for the big mayoral election in February, and two-thirds of children drop out of high school. What could we do to boost moral in Detroit? We could buy up [...]

Considering that the Big Three automakers are in Big Trouble, a little economic retooling in the country’s manufacturing midsection may be as prudent now as it ever has been.

Letting the auto industry go to hell in a handbasket is probably not an option. The impact on the economy would be one thing. But the direct and indirect human impact would be terrible.
That leaves us wondering how to square this particular circle. We are faced with a powerful combination of crises, both economic and environmental. Is there a way to address both at once? Well, yes.

The problems of the US auto manufacturing industry have been widely reported in recent weeks.The big surprise is that to many, this actually came as a surprise.

But is it really surprising that the industry is in a state of collapse considering they continue to make cars that are increasingly irrelevant to the needs of the rest of the world?

This issue is no better demonstrated than by the US Government’s introduction last year of average fuel consumption targets. The legislation mandates a national passenger car fleet average consumption of 32 mpg by 2015, and 35 mpg by 2020.

Is this progress, or is it too little too late?

According to a recent report the fleet average for Europe was 34.4 mpg in 2007. Putting Europeans practically 14 years ahead of the game. Other major auto markets are similarly ahead.

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to post this video.  Is it greenwashing?  It feels a lot like propaganda, but why do I think that only geeks in garages can invent cool things for the environment? Why do I distrust major companies, especially the American automobile industry to truly go green?

The White House and Congress are near a bailout for the “Big Three” auto manufacturers with a $15 billion loans. This is supposed to be a bridge loan to tide them over until the market improves. Will the market improve enough to pay back the loan or is this a bridge to nowhere?

Daimler-Benz wrote Chrysler off their books and sold 80% of Chrysler to Cerberus. Cerberus is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the US with total assists over $24 billion, yet they lack the faith to make a loan to their own company.

Bankruptcy is still the best tool for restructuring any failing industry!

Business cycles are a necessary part of any free market economy. Old industries and models must be replaced by new industries and ideas. This requires a shift in both human and material resources.
New industries require new skills. The government can best facilitate such a shift by easing reemployment of the workforce through realistic unemployment payments, education, investment in sustainable research and industry and a national health plan.

Healthcare, and pensions are a big part the Big Three’s problem. For every dollar paid as wages, more are spent on benefits for retired employees. Portability of health and welfare with affordable housing can increase mobility of the workforce.

Government should not try to pick winner in the market place. Old industry and models become entrenched into the government through lobbyist, influence pedaling, and just inertia. When Morse introduced the electric telegraph, he had to overcome a congress that was sold on optical telegraph – flashing lights, mirrors and telescopes.

Edison tried frantically to get alternating current banned as unsafe. Using A.C.. technology, Westinghouse drove Edison General Electric into bankruptcy, but GE emerged to become a pioneer and powerful competitor in a.c. technology.

Chrysler rose from the ashes of Maxwell Motors in 1915 by performance and safety innovations. It was reborn in the late ’70. After suffering loses from Dodge and Plymouth, Chrysler hired Lee Iaccoca, the former Ford CEO, who had been fired by Henry Ford II over his plain to market compacts.

While Iaccoca got government backing for loans, changes at Chrysler were well underway. He hired fellow renegades from Ford. The K-car, Omni, and Horizon are automotive history.

It’s been said that going to the moon was successful since it was a well-defined goal. Our primary goal should be greater than any particular market. It must represent a broad set of outcomes.

U.S. House of Representatives passed a $14 billion government rescue bailout for the automobile industry. This plan would provide emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler; however, Ford has stated it will not seek out federal loans. GM and Chrysler claim they will not be in business much longer without federal assistance.

Watch this video in which Heather Zichal, a member of the Obama-Biden Transition’s Energy and Environment Policy Team, responds to questions submitted to http://www.change.gov on topics ranging from increasing the number of hybrid cars on the road to making the White House green.

If the McCains need to travel anywhere, they have options. They can drive a Honda, a Volkswagon, a Cadillac…or any other one of the 13 vehicles registered to John and Cindy.