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President Bush Focused On Gas Prices, Has No Idea How Much Gas Will Cost
It's a tough job being the president. The amount of information relevant to running a country of our size is daunting. So when President Bush says that he's unaware that gas could hit $4 a gallon this spring, despite all the news coverage about the issue, we'll cut him some slack. He probably hasn't filled up a car in years. It's just funny that a few minutes later he can't answer a question about funding for his presidential library because he's "focused elsewhere, like on gasoline prices..." Once again, as someone who spent more than a decade in the oil industry and was governor of the state that's home to the country's energy industry he can't be expected to know the price could go up. [Think Progress]
industry news
State Of The Union: Bush Pays Weak Lip Service To Automotive Technological Innovation
As opposed to previous years, the president used only a small part of his State of the Union address to talk about the importance of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. We've read and reread the portion of the speech dedicated to energy and... well... there isn't much there. Mostly, he talked about funding the American Competitiveness Initiative, which is a holdover from the 2006 SOTU. He also alluded to the need to sign an international greenhouse gas agreement, which is the Kyoto Protocol, but said: "This agreement will be effective only if it includes commitments by every major economy and gives none a free ride." In case you didn't get that, he's talking about China and India, which have exemptions as economies that are still developing. The full text of his section about hybrids and batteries below the jump: More »
news
Bush Threatens to Veto Energy Bill, No Likey CAFE Standards
President Bush is content with letting his presidency be remembered for stretching the truth to get us into an economically and strategically harmful conflict in the Middle East. But he'll be damned if he'll be remembered for letting congress raise the corporate average fuel economy mandates to 35 mpg! The industry is raising standards on their own, anyways. Haven't the Dems seen the Hybrid Escalade? More »
industry news
President Bush Hates CAFE Too
Word out of the White House is President Bush is united with Detroit automakers and Toyota in opposing the proposed Senate CAFE changes. But rather than just lobby Congress with the persistence of a
news
This Is Our Country, This Is Our Hybrid - Toyota On The White House Lawn
A Plug-In Toyota Prius Hybrid is going to be on the south lawn of the White House today, but you're not going to be able to tell it's a Toyota because the hood is going to be up for photo time. Why? Because it doesn't sit well with the domestic automakers that a Toyota is there (why no Chrysler Hybrid? Oh... wait) and the White House won't stand up to the Big 3, even though Toyota is creating jobs in his adopted home state of Texas while the Big 3 are cutting jobs and benefits. That Prius I just told you about isn't supported by Toyota even though it gets close to 300 MPG. The Middle East is as unstable as it can be without devolving into chaos because we don't make or support many cars that get good gas mileage. But hey, Anna Nicole Smith is getting buried in the Bahamas, so I'm sure everything is going to work out fine. More »
news
President Bush: "Someday You're Going To Be Able To... Drive 40 Miles On Battery"
Talking about energy policy yesterday in the middle of a cornfield, because why the hell not, President Bush said something that caught our attention:"Someday you're going to be able to get in your car, particularly if you're a big-city person, and drive 40 miles on a battery. And by the way, the car doesn't have to look like a golf cart. It could be a pickup truck."What's striking about this is, ignoring the golf cart variety vehicles and long-crushed GM models, there's the Toyota RAV4-EV and Ford Ranger EV, which had ranges of 116 and 65 miles, respectively, and are still on the road. Sure, he's probably referring to the unreleased Saturn Vue Plug-In Hybrid, but we feel it our responsibility to point out the rare occasions when this administration says something misleading. More »
retro
Happy Presidents Day: K-Car Limo Edition
As President's Day is ultimately a ripoff to those working stiffs who used to get more than one President's birthday a year off work to lounge about in their pajamas or swap out voltage regulators in their old Lincolns, it seemed only fitting to bring some Presidential caliber motorcars to the Jalopnik today. The pictured Chrysler New Yorker limo was what Nixon rolled in about a decade after his Presidential ride in Washington ended, and may or may not have included an onboard tape recorder. More »
news
President Bush Wants Power To Raise Mileage Figures, Again
The Bush Administration already wielded some power over light trucks and authorizing the rise in mileage figures suggested earlier this year. Now, the administration wants the same power over passenger cars. We can't follow how allowing the current CAFE system to raise the figures would "increase fatalities on America's highways, raise health care costs and reduce employment," as Transportation Secretary Mineta says. While the administration doing it wouldn't. The interesting part is no one is saying what they want the passenger car average raised to. Currently the requirement is 27.5 mpg, but the real average on the roads is actually 29.7 mpg. While those numbers themselves may be inflated, it is safe to say close to 30 mpg as an average isn't the worst we can imagine. And the consumer demand for better mileage is impacting the business, see all the hybrid tech and displacement on demand on the lots these days for proof. This ploy by Washington looks like a whole lot of talk over nothing. One congressman says the average should rise to 33 mpg by 2016. If it's at 29.7 now, does anyone out there think it will not naturally hit 33 mpg by 2016? Regardless, none of this will save you money on your daily commute this week, next month or in 2007. More »
news
George Bush Oil Fighter
In 1999 there were a few things you could've told us that we would not believe were occurring in 2006. One, the former owner of a baseball team and Governor of Texas would actually become President ("Who would vote for him over McCain?" I remember thinking logically). And two, he would be launching a probe into big oil with a straight face. But here we are and here he goes launching an oiled up probe straight up the rear-ends of the so-called friends of the GOP. That's what happens when you have the lowest approval rating of your presidency (almost at Clinton, Nixon and Reagan levels!). Let's get this probe prepped fellas, we're waiting at the launch pad. More »
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