Does Clinton’s Claim of Halving Fuel Costs Hold Water?

msn.com ^ | 6 Sept 2012 | Douglas Newcomb

[11th_VA]

Part of the Democratic Party’s push to re-elect President Barack Obama is to point to how he helped saved the auto industry -- while his Republican opponent Mitt Romney advised that the government not intervene and “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

In his party-rallying speech last night at the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton highlighted Obama's effort to rescue General Motors and Chrysler from insolvency.

The auto bailout may play well with the national electorate, particularly in key battleground states in the Midwest that rely heavily on the auto industry for jobs.

But Clinton went on to elaborate on how policies that Obama is putting in place could also help all motoring voters down the road when it comes to fuel economy and how much they pay at the pump. Last week, the administration announced new fuel-economy standards that all new-car fleets will have to meet by 2025: an average of 54.5 mpg.

...

The dollar-and-cents downside, Voelcker added, is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the cost of a 2025 vehicle will rise almost $3,000 in real dollars in order to meet the new standards. “That's more than offset by the lifetime fuel cost savings,” he said...

[pieceofthepuzzle]

First, the auto industry is now very global, and thus we are very unlikely to return to the days when the auto industry was able to sustain a large swath of the economy.

Second, to compete and win in a global economy our auto industry would have to be significantly more innovative than the competition, as we are not going to beat them on the basis of lower labor costs. We have not done that. In technical areas in which we had a lead, like fuel cells, we just dropped the ball. We are now trying to compete in hybrids, and are just also rans in this competition, starting late and with no clear advantage as far as I can tell.

[jimmango]

Unfortunately, I will actually need to have a job in order to buy one of those new cars.

[lurk]

I noticed in the video of Granholm’s orgasmic woof woof last night, talking about the thousands of auto jobs saved state by state, there was a 2 second shot of a woman fanning herself with a fan, with a Ford logo on it. Irony.

[The Sons of Liberty]

It is just "playing with numbers". The higher the price of gas, the more you save if you get a little better fuel economy. When Bush left office, the price was $1.83 a gallon. The price under Hussein is around $4.00 and climbing, so if Hussein decrees that your car get 25 miles per gallon, and Bush only required 20 miles per gallon, then you've already saved over $10, even though you need a bank loan to fill up.

Doesn't make sense? It's 0bama's kenyan voodoo economics. I doubt that the economists at Columbia would own up to teaching this, but the so-called "Best and Brightest" at the Ivy League may be doing just that! That's precisely why we're $16 Trillion in debt and climbing so fast that you can't read the numbers on the debt clock.

[The Great RJ]

A major result of these new standards will be the demise of pickup trucks. Small businesses, farms and ranches that depend on pickups to do hauling and towing will find the underpowered and undersized small trucks that will be the result of this decree will simply not be up to the job. I expect that the US auto fleet by 2025 will look like Cuba with 40+ year old vehicles being patched together and still in use solely because there are no newer vehicles that can do the work needed.

[bandleader]

Yeah,Obama is going to give EVERYONE a Chevy Volt.This way,when gas hits $12.00 per gallon,he thinks you won’t notice!!!!!!!!

[txrefugee]

For the next 50 years, there should be a ban on Ivy League graduates running for office. The USA might have a chance to recover from their extermination of
the Common Sense Gene, which is crucial to the survival of our nation.

[Baynative]

Along the way the government will continue to add more rules governing automotive standards. Mileage, safety, communications, environmental specifics and special conditioning to prolong the life of roads or contain noise will drive the cost of buying a vehicle through the roof. BUT, there will be government programs to help people buy the specially approved autos. Those programs will produce discounts or grants that come with other strings attached.

Getting 50 mpg won't mean much when gas is $12.00 a gallon. Actually, it will probably go to $12.00 a liter as we adopt more goofy euro standards.