Turn fuel economy hardship into opportunity - DetNews.com

Some in Washington, including President Bush, have continued to push more and more stringent corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards onto the Big Three automakers and their suppliers. Raising the fuel economy standard to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 represents an $85 billion unfunded mandate sent from Washington directly to the Big Three — on top of their research and development costs. But when they are saddled with billions of dollars in new costs and a stringent timeline to achieve dramatic product line changes, they do deserve a partnership from Washington, not just a callous mandate. It costs $5 million a day, or $2 billion a year, to run Michigan’s prison system, whose population stands at 50,200 and is projected to top 56,000 within five years. read more

[Tags]automakers, big, fuel, cafe, costs, economy, fuel economy[/Tags]

Share This