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Re: E-M:/ more on Bush fuel cell proposal
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Enviro-Mich message from Jeff Gearhart <jeffg@ecocenter.org>
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One has to wonder why the auto industry deserves continued tax payer
support for "research projects", when ten years after the Clinton
era Partnership for Next generation of Vehicles(the last great tax
payer funded auto research project) we see very little
commercialization of any of the technologies which were studied in
real vehicles. Meanwhile the auto companies which have not
participated in our "research projects", namely Toyota and Honda have
been leaders in actually commercializing key technologies such as
continuously variable transmissions and hybrid electric vehicles to
name just a few. At this point these are mature technologies, yet
the domestic industry continues to be slow to commercialize. They
have yet to put a single hybrid electric vehicle on the road almost 5
years after they were introduced by other auto makers.
Why should anyone who has objectively looked at the industries
history have confidence that the industry will be successful
commercializing a technology, fuel cells, which has unbelievable
technical, logistical and cost issues to overcome(see
http://www.cleancarcampaign.org/releases/fuelcell.shtml), WHEN they
continue to fail to implement the most cost effective, commercially
available technologies today.(read all about it at
http://www.cleancarcampaign.org/fueleconimprovements.shtml). They
have no track record which would make me believe they could do this
in our lifetime. As a result, we are left with various policy
options, such as CAFE, to help address these issues and save the
industry from itself.
At 9:39 AM -0500 1/30/03, Dave Dempsey wrote:
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>Enviro-Mich message from "Dave Dempsey" <davemec@voyager.net>
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>
>"Having a problem to accelerate the use of hydrogen fuels is a good idea,"
>said David Hawkins, air programs chief for the Natural Resources Defense
>Council. "We need something for the next 16 years."
>
>http://www.auto.com/industry/cell30_20030130.htm
>
>
>
>
>
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--
_________________
Jeff Gearhart
Ecology Center
117 N. Division
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734)663-2400 x117
(734)663-2414 fx.
http://www.ecocenter.org
http://www.cleancarcampaign.org
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