Misguided assault on autos won’t solve energy crisis

Another “blue-ribbon” panel of experts has met to try and find solutions to America’s reliance on foreign oil, and, as usual, the auto industry is both the problem and the answer.

Blaming the auto industry for all things related to global climate change is the thing to do these days, but it’s misguided, especially when it targets the failed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) guidelines. And it ignores other industries, which do their share of dirtying up the atmosphere.

Take for example, the Hollywood television and film industry. Here’s a group that fancies itself the most environmentally conscious on the planet, yet as an industry it spews more greenhouse gases and other air pollution into the environment than apparel or aerospace manufacturing. We knew a lot of hot air was coming out of California and a study by UCLA’s Institute of the Environment confirms this. Hollywood uses an inordinate amount of energy and oil and does a terrible job of recycling, yet rarely gets dinged for its abusive environmental behavior because movie stars are the first to tell you how green they are (just before they leave their massive homes to board their private jets).

By comparison, the auto industry, which is one of the most highly regulated, leads in the research, development and manufacture of environmentally sound technologies and products. Yet it is blamed for everything that is wrong with the environment.

Detroit News