[Mb-civic] Big 3 Auto Makers push for alternative / renewable fuels. Bush not in town.

[Harold Sifton]

Journalists found it odd that Bush would rather be at a photo-op along the Mexican border, than be in Washington meeting with the leaders of the big Three auto makers! "The optics are not encouraging" was one reporter's thoughts on Bush not being there.

Later H


The Toronto Star


Auto makers press Congress on ethanol
`We want to be a leader in this historic shift'

Big 3 executives arrive in cars with corn stalk trim
May 19, 2006. 01:00 AM
KEN THOMAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON—Leaders of the Big Three North American auto makers pressed the U.S. Congress yesterday to help make ethanol fuels more widely available to motorists, calling it an immediate step toward weaning the nation from foreign oil. 

General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner, Ford Motor Co. chairman and CEO Bill Ford, and Tom LaSorda, president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, said they urged congressional leaders to boost the number of gas stations that carry ethanol blends. 

The executives also endorsed an initiative to have renewable fuels meet 25 per cent of the nation's transportation energy needs by 2025. 

"We want to be a leader in this historic shift," Wagoner said. 

Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, described the Illinois Republican's meeting with the auto executives as a ``positive and constructive dialogue" on ways to encourage alternative fuel vehicles and wider availability of ethanol blends. The auto makers also expressed support for pension reform. 

Auto industry officials had said the Washington meetings would centre on energy issues such as making ethanol fuels more widely available, the industry's challenges in meeting rising health-care costs, trade issues and the need for more alternative fuel vehicles. 

Ford, following a meeting with Senate Democrats, said it was a "great opportunity for the three of us to get together with the leadership and talk about the opportunities we have as a country and as an industry, particularly on fuels, and how we start to wean ourselves from dependence on foreign oil.'' 

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, said, "We recognize that there are problems, and we are going to work as partners with them." He added, "Perhaps, in the last many years, we have not worked together as well as we should have.'' 

Reid said it was the first of many meetings to develop a better partnership between government and industry. 

The Big Three executives arrived in vehicles powered by ethanol, decorated with images of corn stalks, to underscore their commitment to alternative fuels. 

Domestic auto makers have ramped up production of flexible fuel vehicles, capable of running on gasoline and fuel blends of up to 85 per cent ethanol. 

But one of the obstacles is finding pumps that offer ethanol — industry officials estimate that about 685 of the 165,000 fueling stations across the country offer ethanol blends, less than 1 per cent of the stations. 

The auto executives plan to meet in June with U.S. President George W. Bush. 

Wagoner also said yesterday he was optimistic bankrupt Delphi Corp. of Troy, Mich., and the United Auto Workers union would resolve their differences at the bargaining table, though GM has stockpiled parts in case of a work stoppage.
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