Whitman v. Kennedy -

Mr. Rossi pointed out this article in the November edition of Outside Magazine:
http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200411/robert_kennedy_christine_todd_whitman_1.html

This excerpt begins to get at the role of government in dealing with environmental issues, and maybe even the future underpinnings of the U.S. economy....

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OUTSIDE: The Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight—these are the greenest and hottest cars on the market. They're both made by Japanese companies. Why isn't America the world's leading environmental innovator?
KENNEDY: In this case, $65 billion in annual subsidies to the petroleum industry has allowed oil companies to lower the price of gas. Were we paying the true cost at the pump—about $5.50 per gallon—consumers would be begging Detroit to build fuel-efficient cars. And guess what? Detroit would be building SUVs with the same size and performance of today's models. Only they'd be getting 40 miles per gallon!

We should be developing the best technology and selling it to Europe, China, Africa, and Latin America. Instead we're falling behind. If that continues, our whole automobile industry is likely to collapse over the next 20 years. You may see the end of Detroit, because they are so shortsighted.

WHITMAN: When industries get subsidies and the market is distorted, that affects behavior. There's no two ways about it. I think we should have much higher gas-mileage requirements, and I think Detroit can meet them.

The reality is, the 40-mpg car exists. What we need to do is figure out how fast we can force Detroit to move its whole fleet there in a way that will keep cars affordable, so people will be able to buy the 40-mpg car. We can do it; we just have to be smart about setting the goal and the time frame....

KENNEDY: Industry can create the demand for its products—even those that harm the public—and that's why government must play a role. If Detroit keeps building cars that burn too much fuel, that make us dependent on petty Middle Eastern dictators, that drive up our national debt, government has the responsibility to say, "You are using a public resource; you have to use it responsibly."

People have to understand that these are not esoteric issues. These are issues that go to the heart of everything we consider important in America. If Ronald Reagan had not rolled back gas-mileage standards in 1986, we could have eliminated the need to import Persian Gulf oil by the early 1990s. We might have avoided the current Iraq entanglement.
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