At a press conference today, President Obama signed the Executive orders on energy independence and outlined a plan for the future. The initiative provides for the creation of jobs through an effort to make buildings more energy efficient. It also provides incentives for fuel efficient cars to be designed and built in the United States. President Obama pledged to work with state governments rather than against them. In response to the 35,000 jobs lost today, the President said to not expect a quick fix. He went on to say that much work needs to be done, and these executive orders are the next step.

Chairman of the House Select Energy and Global Warming Committee Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said that U.S. automobile companies are in trouble because of “their inability to move from Car 1.0 to Car 2.0 over the past half century. A business model premised on bigger cars, wider highways, and more oil is a failed equation.”

At a hearing to discuss the potential automobile bailout’s effect on energy independence, Markey said that these car companies should “use this moment as an opportunity to transform.” He felt that “innovation and technological change over the long term” must be made a priority in the future for these companies.

The automobile industry is a “very cornerstone industry” in the U.S. said Rep. Candace Miller (R-Mich.). If they went bankrupt, Miller said it would have “a catastrophic effect on our economy.” Miller praised the automobile industry as a lynchpin for creating the U.S. middle class.

Joan Claybrook, President of Public Citizen, felt that laws must be put in place to demand technological and energy-efficient improvements to ensure that auto industries sufficiently attempt these initiatives. She stated that the fuel efficiency required of 35 mpg by 2020 is a “meager provision.”

“We’re going to have these vehicles one way or the other,” said Peter Morici, Professor of International Business at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, referring to more energy-efficient and higher gas mileage automobiles. He felt that the only question is whether these improved vehicles are going to be made in the U.S. or not. Morici thinks that these companies should be bailed out only if they agree to share their patents with their competitors for a small price.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) released today its first quarterly report that tracks U.S. gasoline consumption, expenditures, oil imports and consumer attitudes. Jack Gillis, CFA director of public affairs, says he hopes consumers continue to “put pressure on elected officials for even greater fuel efficiency standards”, but also that consumers learn what they can do to reduce gasoline consumption and gasoline costs. (0:50)

 

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Jack Gillis, director of public affairs for the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), says that the CFA has two overall goals to decrease consumption of oil in America: ensure that the public pressures the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for “appropriate regulatory action” and that the auto makers “respond to consumers’ desire for more fuel efficient vehicles.” (0:21)

 

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