Bush, Automakers Promote Alternative Fuel Vehicles
Date: 27-Mar-07
Country: US
The executives from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group said after meeting with Bush at the White House that he agreed with their plans to significantly increase production of alternative fuel vehicles.
The executives have pledged to make half their companies' annual vehicle production by 2012 able to run on fuel made from 85 percent ethanol or biodiesel.
"Fair to say he is not necessarily advocating regulatory approaches, but what kind of market-based approaches can we use," GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner told reporters after the meeting. "We didn't get a lot more detail than, that but that was the tone of the conversation.
"What we tried to make clear to the president that his direction, particularly relying more on biofuels and technology, are things that are within our grasp now," Wagoner said.
Struggling Detroit automakers want tax breaks and other government incentives to help them retool their plants and create conditions for greatly expanding the limited infrastructure for producing and delivering ethanol and other alternative fuels to consumers.
Bush met with the executives as part of his legislative push to reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years. Much of the plan would leverage alternatives to traditional fuel, but an important component would require more stringent federal fuel-efficiency standards.
The automakers oppose the Bush's proposal for a 4 percent annual increase in efficiency standards, but said they talked very little about the issue on Monday.
Bush said the pledge by the industry to make half of its vehicles capable of running on alternative fuels in five years would be a technological breakthrough.
"If you want to reduce gasoline usage, like I believe we need to do for national security reasons, as well as for environmental concerns, the consumer has got to be in a position to make a rational choice," Bush said.
