well they are certainly advertising like that is not true. I cannot understate the absolute FLOOD of Chevron feel good advertising that has been bombarding the airwaves here last month, with a "we are not the problem we are the solution" theme.
This is a company that should be retooling agressively for an immediate drop in demand (and pricing at 1/3 of peak- very soon).
Oil companies are fine and necessary. But that shouldn't thwart the move to electric cars and plug in hybrids. And if big oil had a say with the new admin, at least to the same degree it had in the old one, the GM loans would not have stipulated alternatives and plug ins required to get the money.
People forget- the Bush admin had the EPA reject CA's cafe standards- thats how in bed Bush was with big oil. Now, 2 years later Detroit is being forced to build plug in hybrids, or go under.
It looks like the Detroit Three might get direct loans or loan guarantees totaling $25 billion, but not the $50 billion they've been requesting from Washington. An energy law enacted in December, 2007, created the low-interest loan program for Detroit but did not fund it, and some of the conditions on the money, not given much thought at the time, have risen to the fore as potential deal-breakers.
According to industry journal Automotive News, the main condition requires that the funding go to projects that help create vehicles with 25 percent higher fuel economy than comparable vehicles -- a very high bar which the Detroit Three apparently felt would never seriously be demanded of them.
Detroit car-makers are also spending huge amounts to convert truck factories into car-making plants, but these cars won't have anywhere near the 25% mpg improvement the conditions demand. In that case, these plant conversions won't qualify for the loan. |
