The Big 3 and Pres. Bush

November 14, 2006

Seems that the three big chiefs in the auto industry have a few concerns that they'd like to address with Mr. President. According to FT.com (via MSNBC) executives from the three largest American-based auto makers will bare the truth to the President about healtchare, trade policies and yes, even alternative fuels.

Earlier in June, the motor company triumvirate (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) committed to producing double the amount of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in an effort to put the pressure on Congress to make more available renewable fuels, such as E85.

This week, however, the same three companies are concerned about the lack of distribution of ethanol and, according to the FT.com report, will plea for a wider distribution of the alternative fuel. The lack of E85 availability makes the big three's promise seem moot, what, with all of these FFVs and nary a pump to utilize the stuff. It almost seems silly.

Despite the rigorous attempts to heighten awareness of E85 and alternative fuels, the Governement (President Bush)still questions investing in it. In the article, it says:

Al Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council, told the Financial Times last week that Mr Bush wanted to ensure there were the right "incentives to invest" in alternative fuels.

I have to admit that I kind of scratched my head at this statement because, first of all, what better incentive is there than that of giving to your homeland? Investing in domestic fuels, as I've stated many times over in this blog, is the direction we should be moving in for the obvious reasons that we won't rely so heavily on fuels elsewhere, which, as we've all learned has caused some, well, problems.

But...but....the article also reports

Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said last week the president wanted to reaffirm his support for the US car industry's "growth and success".

Hmm. Interesting. Perhaps reaffirming support should come in the form of making available E85 and thus, our motor companies can produce more FFVs, and henceforth, we'll be a more self-reliant country. I realize it's a lot more complicated than it sounds, but I just don't understand what the obstacles are.

[EDIT]

Upon further searches, VeraSun an ethanol producer, quotes GWB on their Website as saying:

"In low concentrations, ethanol can be used in any vehicle. And with minor modifications, vehicles can run on fuel blend that includes 85 percent ethanol and only 15 percent gasoline. ... ethanol helps communities to meet clean air standards, farmers to find new markets for their products, and America to replace foreign crude oil with a renewable source grown right here in the nation's heartland. Together, ethanol and biodiesel present a tremendous opportunity to diversify our supply of fuel for cars and buses and trucks and heavy-duty vehicles."

So, to revisit the notion that Bush is waiting for the right incentives to invest, one would believe based on the aforementioned statement that there are, in fact, incentives. Again, the obstacles are not clear to me. Thoughts?