t r u t h o u t | Environment Editor
Thursday 24 January 2008
It is really too bad that the Democrats shunned Michigan's primary last week, if only because their participation might have forced the media to look a little deeper at Michigan's and the country's economic woes. Even more so because the nation's economic dysfunction was prominently on display in Detroit at the opening of the glitzy media extravaganza known as the North American International Auto Show.
Republican candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and John McCain all dropped in on the spectacle to heap praise on the big three US auto manufacturers and troll for union votes.
Regarding the shaky financial situation of GM, Ford and Chrysler, Romney put on his rose-colored glasses. In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, he vowed to revitalize the auto industry and said he would convene a summit meeting between the auto industry, organized labor and Congress during his first 100 days in office to reconsider recent CAFE fuel mileage increases. He called the new fuel mileage standards that Congress approved in December a job-killing "unfunded mandate."
Romney also accused rival McCain of supporting "a new kind of energy tax" in the McCain-Lieberman climate bill, saying that a carbon cap and trade policy would raise energy costs to manufacturers and drain even more jobs from the state.
John McCain, who claims the mantle of Republican environmental responsibility by being the only Republican candidate to propose a concrete global warming policy, showed, if it is possible, even less vision than rival Romney. First, in his "straight talk" mode, he told Michiganers that the job hemorrhage of the last decade would not reverse and there would be no way to "get all those jobs back." Then, in response to Romney's optimism, McCain accused the former Massachusetts governor of hurting Michigan back in 2002 when he promoted a state tax break for fuel-efficient vehicles that would have penalized SUV purchases. American automakers continue to promote the SUV and light truck markets despite declining sales because profit margins are higher on the bigger vehicles.
McCain's position on climate change and energy is less than clear. Though the Lieberman-Warner climate bill, which once bore McCain's name, has been reintroduced to the Senate for consideration this session, he has yet to formally sponsor the bill. Even worse, in December when the Democrats tried to pass the strong version of their energy bill through the Senate, McCain failed to vote. His vote in favor of the stronger energy bill would have broken the Republican filibuster. Although the result would have been the same - Bush would have vetoed it and the Senate would have passed the weaker bill that the president signed - it would have shown McCain to be a sincere green.
The bearish attitude of the Republican candidates about fuel efficiency and jobs contrasts strongly with what all the Democratic candidates are saying. Every one of them sees increases in both efficiency mandates and government investment in research and job-training as laying the foundation for a new green economy that tackles climate change and energy security while creating jobs.
But if the Republicans aren't buying this vision, neither is Detroit.
"Party on; we're back on top" is the message Detroit is presenting to America at its auto show. CNBC's "All Access" television special on the auto show last week focused on the big time rock stars, fashion designers and top models that Detroit has hired at a cost of many millions of dollars to carry its message to Americans. Getting down to specifics, Ford wants you to know that its new F-100 series trucks are now bigger and more powerful. Chrysler's big news is that the new Dodge Ram truck has a built-in beer cooler!
The hour-long special spent about equal time on ludicrous debates over production car style wars, hyped-up concept cars, way-out luxury options, and China-bashing. Five Chinese car manufacturers exhibited cars ranging from normal-looking economy cars to pod-like miniature fuel sippers. Erratic camera pans and alarming music emphasized the threat from Chinese manufacturers that announcers declared was not real yet but would be soon. Chinese car manufacturers are likely to improve along an even faster trajectory than Japan and Korea. If the American worker is forced to compete With China's rock bottom labor costs, the game will be over for good.
Between the NASCAR heroes and half-naked women you would have thought there might be a few minutes to look at some of the green cars on display. According to Auto Alliance, the show features 34 flex-fuel vehicles from eight manufacturers, one hydrogen vehicle from BMW, 24 hybrids from nine manufacturers, and ten new diesels from four manufacturers. Chevy and Toyota also have plug-in hybrid cars at the concept stage. But the CNBC television special had nothing to say about green cars until 44 minutes into the show when there was a comment that green cars were there and "there is ethanol, plug-ins, a lot of stuff they don't have yet, but great eco-fuel stuff to talk about." And that was it. They didn't bother to show the viewing audience a single green car.
Retro styling, along with retro attitudes, is all we are seeing from Detroit at a time when the world needs to radically reinvent everything to do with energy and the economy. It's not just about climate change either, but also the fact that global oil production is near its peak while population and consumption are both rising. Meanwhile, the only cure for the US recession is massive public investment in a new, post-oil energy and transportation infrastructure. The future will revolve around plug-in hybrids coupled with a smart electric grid and a huge expansion in mass transit buses and railroads. There is no real reason why Detroit should not be a part of that, but the auto industry and its supporters will have to work to make it happen.
Note to Detroit: the party is over.
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