Auto bailout with conditions?

Why should Americans bail out General Motors, Chrysler and Ford when all three companies are spending millions fighting proposed government rules to make their fleets more energy-efficient?
Aren't these the folks who got themselves into financial trouble by churning out gas-guzzlers while Japanese carmakers, with their hybrids and fuel-sippers, were doing well by doing good?

Seven attorneys general today wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid demanding that any legislation offering financial support to automakers be subject to the companies' "lessening the carbon footprint of their vehicles."

Automobiles are a major source of the greenhouse gases that are heating up the planet, and, according to scientists, posing dangers of water shortages, higher sea levels and wildfires.

Any bailout bill should be contingent on the carmakers' dropping their lawsuits fighting the landmark carbon dioxide tailpipe standards passed by California and more than a dozen other states, the officials wrote.

Those standards have been blocked by the Bush administration, but even if Barack Obama supports their enactment, auto companies vow to fight any national regulation.

"If the U.S. auto industry is serious about taking millions in aid from our pockets, it must show us that it too is serious about global warming and taking a leading (and therefore profitable) role as a producer of fuel-efficient and carbon-sensitive vehicles," the attorneys general wrote.

They are Jerry Brown of California, William Sorrell of Vermont, Douglas Gansler of Maryland, Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, Hardy Myers of Oregon, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Patrick Lynch of Rhode Island.

— Margot Roosevelt

Comments

[morrow cater]

Yesterday CEOs from the Big Three flew to DC in three separate corporate jets -- each roundtrip costing approximately $20,000. They were called on the carpet during the congressional hearing. Without conditions, any taxpayer bailout of these companies would only underwrite behavior that got them into this position in the first place.

[Nick Magel]

It’s time for the Auto industry to put up, shut up, or go belly up. President-elect Obama calls for bold action to combat climate change. Ford, GM, and Chrysler have shown a questionable boldness by asking Americans for $25 billion while polluting our air and driving climate change. Instead, they should commit to produce the most fuel efficient fleets on the planet, and usher in a new clean, green economy driven by American innovation.
The big three have banked on pedaling gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks for too long. Taxpayers are surely disheartened to hear no commitments attached to the $25 billion towards zero emission technologies, plug-in electric hybrids, or other climate initiatives from Ford, GM, and Chrysler CEOs.
Automakers need to win back the consumers they've isolated by pushing gas guzzlers. It’s simple, show us commitments to unprecedented clean car technology and production, and we’ll show unprecedented enthusiasm and support towards an industry that will once again be viewed as a cornerstone of American ingenuity.

[Emily Mullen]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97303393

This link is to an NPR story with some interesting ideas about what to do with the money that would be spent on the bailout.