Auto company bailout? Not without strings…
My gut reaction to the thought of bailing out those U.S. car companies who have been pushing massive, dangerous polluting gas guzzlers on us for obscene profits and who have been shamelessley lobbying Congress to oppose CAFE standards over the last decade is – fuck them!
But on reflection, here is the perfect opportunity to get what we want, while they are in distress. Sure, let’s bail them out, but only if:
The government gets a significant piece of each company (for some period);
The companies are unable to lobby Congress during the bailout period;
A significant chunk of the cash is put into R&D for low emission/no emission vehicles;
The company agrees to produce vehicles with 35+ MPG by 2010, 45 MGP by 2012 and 55 MPG by 2014
Otherwise, fuck ‘em, let ‘em fail.
Stumble it!
Tags: auto company bailout, CAFE, emmissions standards, fuel efficiency vehicles