The US can't increase mileage standards because it's too technically difficult, impractical from an engineering prospective and would wreck the economy... You know the drill. Every time the possibility comes up a parade of lobbyists storm capital hill.
Now granted, people are stupid. They do, many do, insist on wildly impractical, unethical and generally HUGE automobiles to drive 10 blocks to do their grocery shopping in. But fads won't last. American companies had better be ready for change. Because slightly more responsible companies overseas will be.
"Fuel-economy mavens take note. Honda recently showed off an alternative to hybrid cars at a Sacramento car show: a diesel-powered Accord that is scheduled to hit the American market in 2010. Unlike a hybrid, the diesel promises more power, but it still gets a whopping 62.8 mpg."
What we have here is a great example of an industrial strategy where the "free market" fails to produce to greatest good for the greatest number. Industry has done a cost-benefit analysis and determined beyond all doubt that it is cheaper to protect its market share by lobbying Congress than it is to design, produce and market a more advanced product. Cheaper in the short term... In the long term, the better product is perfected overseas, and American jobs are lost from an already slim manufacturing base.
Oh yes, people are stupid.
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