Auto leaders discuss climate change

“We all need to be very clear on one point — new vehicle efficiency improvements alone will never result in the overall decline in petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions we need,” LaSorda said in remarks prepared for delivery.

Some members of Congress view the auto industry as a logical place to begin tackling global warming and are wary of giving the government and industry too much flexibility in meeting higher standards.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., whose district includes Toyota’s North American headquarters, said the auto industry could “either take the opportunity to shape change or they can resist ... because change surely will come.”

In the Senate, meanwhile, Democrat Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho introduced legislation that would raise the fuel economy requirements by 4 percent for all new vehicles from 2012 to 2030. Their bill, designed to be part of a larger energy package, would offer also tax incentives to manufacturers.

“We don’t have a choice but to make the auto fleet more efficient,” Dorgan said.

GM, Ford and Chrysler have all announced layoffs and plant closings, and the industry is nervously eyeing an early, $100 billion-plus projected cost for raising the fuel economy standards under President Bush’s plan.

The committee was considering alternatives to the fuel economy program, possibly through the regulation of a vehicle’s carbon dioxide emissions. Gettelfinger, for example, said the UAW wanted Congress to look into the possibility of a carbon control policy that would require reductions in carbon emissions of vehicles.

The executives also stressed their work to diversify the fleet through hybrid and electric cars, vehicles running on diesel and ethanol and the development of hydrogen fuel cells.

Last year the leaders of GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler said that by 2010 they would double production of “flexible fuel” vehicles, which can run on ethanol blends of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. They have a target of building 2 million of these vehicles a year by then, but note that less than 1 percent of the nation’s 170,000 gas stations now offer E85, and most are found in the Midwest.

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