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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Car companies, not consumers, should pay for emission limits
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, May 19, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Do you notice anything wrong about the following news item? News outlets report that President Obama will "propose the first-ever national emission limits for cars and trucks as well as average mileage requirements of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 — all costing consumers an extra $1,300 per vehicle." If you think the problem with the item is that Obama shouldn't be telling car companies to reduce their pollution of the air, then, well, just move along folks, nothing to see in this blog entry. What I'm seeing, though, is an ingrained mindset which naturally assumes that American consumers should foot the bill for automobile manufacturers' pollution controls — and that car companies are somehow guaranteed a certain profit margin. In a country that's not as slavishly devoted to corporate interests as we are, car companies would be told to cut emissions pronto for the common good, and by the way, do not pass along extra costs to consumers. This is a public health issue and a critical environmental issue, so why should the biggest polluters on earth, car companies, have to be rewarded for doing the right thing? OK, rightwing comment posters, rev up your keyboards — let's see if you can rebut this without using the words "socialist" or "dumbass"!
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