Yesterday, president Obama announced emission standards which he said would raise the cost of automobiles by $1300.
While the new fuel and emission standards for cars and trucks will save billions of barrels of oil, they are expected to cost consumers an extra 1,300 US dollars per vehicle by the time the plan is complete in 2016. Mr Obama said the fuel cost savings would offset the higher price of vehicles in three years.
His remarkable comment caught my attention, because one of the primary purposes of Obama’s “cap and trade” plan is to massively raise the cost of fuel. There aren’t going to be any fuel cost savings. In fact, Mr. Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle last year that he actually intends to bankrupt coal fired power plants using cap and trade:
You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.
Two automobile companies are already going bankrupt, so I think we should take Mr. Obama’s words seriously.
I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, not any of your taxes.
WASHINGTON – Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday that if elected he will push to increase the amount of income that is taxed to provide monthly Social Security benefits.
Audacity indeed. The assumption seems to be that no one remembers what was said last week.
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democracy, democracy, where for art thou democracy?
I am genuinely afraid for all our futures
New for the 2010 line up of Government Motors! The 1956 Trabant! Roomy! Stylish! Needs to be pushed up hills!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant
Oh the humanity…
Hal (08:17:31) :
You are absolutely correct. Seeing this coming for about a year now, last fall I purchased two 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokees with the big 5.9 litre engines. Both were low mileage gems and cost less than $10K for the two. My wife was not supportive, until I convinced her that in just a few years time cars like these will never be available again – the Prius will become the new Escalade.
Being a car guy, I expect to keep these two Guzzling SUV’s for the next 30 years or more, barring of course a wreck or theft.
I would have said “The Stupidity of Cap and Trade,” given that our economy is still vulnerable and on life support. Draining away the consumers’ spending power for Cap and Trade is idiocy.
George Monbiot has written another article on the doom we all face from GW. Apparently, some in the comments section are expecting to hear from WWUT folks.
Danphobic says…
**think we all know that the guys at whatsupwiththat.com have proof that all of the scientists and experts in the world are wrong about this. I’m sure we’ll see some of the links presented here in a few minutes when they hear that GM has written an article.*** LOL
GM thinks the ‘modeling’ done by MIT has some credilibilty!
But he doesn’t understand that most of these peer reviewed scientists are simply parroting the AGW line and finding… manufacturing evidence to support it! (making sausage as some refer to it)The question I suppose is how many are conscious conspirators in the GW conspiracy. The false tide sweeps them along.
WWUT will keep them honest!
The Boy of John
Anthony iwould just like to draw your attention to this article publish in “The america, thinker”, from an article in Spegiel.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/05/paradox_of_carbon_cap_and_trad.html
What it means is because of the law of supply and demand, carbon trading will not result in a gram of co2 saved. Even if nuclear is built then the carbon credit, would just be used elseware, to release carbon.The overall effect could be to increase co2?
Although I’m on Steven’s side of the issue, I have to agree with Luis Diaz. That’s a pretty fragmented argument in the article. The connection of all the pieces isn’t clear. It’s more like the points one might put together before writing the actual article. As it’s presented it doesn’t appear to address the sentiment in the title.
That’s the problem with explaining Cap and Trade to the general public, I think. It’s so complex in it’s application, and spin-off implications it’s pretty much impossible to communicate the dangers in a short piece. That makes it advantage theirs in the information wars, because they can simply offer a few truthyisms which appear to support the general reasoning supporting C & T, then simply expect the public to ignore the complexity, and trust them to deal with it. You can do that when you’re running the show, but not when you’re critiquing it.
It’s not just the youth.
How will the overwhelming cafe standards affect your purchase of your next car. IT WONT! You will still by the vehicle you can that fits your needs.
The plans of our government only make sense if you consider they want more power. The beautiful message of socialism is the same as it has been for a century, there is no question the quality of the result. You can look at any country on earth and see it directly.
Now that GM is being taken over by the government what have we got left?
-Not too damn much and we keep importing illegals who have no idea that things don’t work like this.
The kids in the video are no more ignorant than the parents that raise them and they are VERY ignorant.
========
Luis,
“So, you think that Obama is responsible for the bankruptcy of the two automakers?”
Nope, the unions are and the Dem’s under Obama will back their pay to the end of America rather than give them the absolutely required pay cuts. In fact this result is exactly what the democrats (and some republicans) want.
====
I will never buy another GM vehicle until the government gives up control and I strongly recommend all of you do the same.
=====
I just got notice that another customer of ours went bankrupt, second one this month that won’t be making their bills to us. Something I blame on the other government run companies intentionally buying bad loans from banks who were pushed by politicians to loan to unqualified borrowers.
Wake up and keep your noses to the grindstones and next time a politician tells you he actually wants to bankrupt the energy suppliers – listen.
They can only go so far?!! The Federal Government intends to regulate, control and tax A MOLECULE!! A molecule on which all life is based. You don’t need to go any further than that. That pretty much covers everything.
Let’s see the math:
I drive a 40 mile round trip to work every day so 40 miles * 5 days * 50 weeks = 10000 miles per year. To make the math easy let’s say my F150 gets 15mpg (true) and Obama doubles that to 30mpg. That takes my gallons used per year from 667 (4800/15) down to 333 (4800/30). That is a difference of 334 gallons. So take Your $1300/334 gallons saved and that comes out at $3.89 a gallon.
I guess that means that the big O is going to raise gas prices to make this work. I performed the same calculation for my wife’s Honda (30mpg) that I actually drive to work (green conservation: I’m conserving the cash in my wallet) and gas has to go up to $7.78 a gallon to make this work out. You might as well keep your old acr for as long as you can!
I’m betting that my F150 will no longer pull my travel trailer when it’s engineered to give 30mpg!
The frightening thing in my mind, is that this wasn’t kept secret before the elections. Not that McCain was any better.
This is what the people of the good ole USA have chosen.
Be careful what you wish for….
Of course, in 3 years, 7 if he’s re-elected, people will really be wishing for a change.
Nasif Nahle (08:51:03) :
“Excuse me for my audacity; I’m not living in US. Nonetheless, isn’t that a short way to national impoverishment?”
Could you please move here and become a voting citizen? I would trade a thousand of our “head-in-the-sand” voters for one like you!
Gary the last I looked it was deregulation of banks, read free market, that got everyone into this fiscal mess. In Canada the banks are more tightly regulated and thus survived quite well. Looking for a safe place to put whatever money you have left, look north, I did.
Gordon Ford. I too am invested in conventional energy. It seems unlikely to me that vehicles will run, in any large way, on non-petroleum energy at any time in the near future. Regardless of the political class. It is my experience, trading commodities, that prices react much more quickly to changes in supply, rather than demand. No drilling+no new refineries=cap on supply=higher prices. The political class will no doubt find a scapegoat, and it won’t include them. fm
They keep asking why isnt the united states like Europe, their cars get a lot better gas mileage than the USA.
There are two important differences. In Europe, people are encouraged to buy cars with diesel engines. The fuel tax is much less on diesel so it costs much less to the consumer, to make up the difference in higher diesel car purchase expenses. Diesels save gas in Europe. Also in Europe, the engines are so small, they must use manual transmissions to get enough torque from them.
In the USA, the govt does not like diesel engines, they think particulate from diesel engines cause cancer. In Europe diesel soot is just soot. Here it causes cancer. Americans also do not like to drive manual transmissions.
So unless we embrace both diesel engines and manual transmissions, we can not follow Europes lead with improved fuel mileage. There are also almost no SUVs in Europe, the station wagon is their SUV. It is hard to imagine that the Pick-up, V, and van will mostly all go extinct, at least as we know them, in the next six years.
Google “Obama Deception” – a film really worth watching – and not just for Americans.
+ There was an “Obama youth corps” video – a freaky militant style commercial by “City Year” – out there also – however, looks like it’s no longer available at youtube “due to a copyright claim by City Year”…
“Skeptic Tank (09:45:28) :
They can only go so far?!! The Federal Government intends to regulate, control and tax A MOLECULE!! A molecule on which all life is based. You don’t need to go any further than that. That pretty much covers everything.”
You’re right Skeptic. And when the Supreme Court is fully stacked, anything they wish will then be constitutional. If the outlawing af a life-giving trace gas becomes constitutional, what are the states options? When the entire federal government becomes crazed, what are the options? Many states are starting to look at secession.
Communism and Cuba!
The AP article in my morning paper said that pickups would become too expensive for most people and would only be used for work. Phooey.
Sounds like alarmism, like how seat belts and cat converters would drive the car companies bankrupt.
We will adapt.
Dear NC–
truly moronic. But like most morons you do stumble on a truth. With Harper, Canada has a more conservative, market supporting, and fiscally responsible government at this point than the crew in Washington, so I do fancy Canada’s chances better than the US’s.
Although the Democrats control the Presidency, House & Senate, I read that some Democrats. mostly the younger and/or newly elected, are getting uncomfortable with this Administration’s policies. Everyone who believes that our country is being forced into a Socialist Economy and that our individual inalienable rights are being taken from us must call, write, and e-mail their elected representatives, and remember, there are Congressional elections in 2010. If Americans are not willling to vote in these elections, then they deserve the government they have and will experience the decline and fall of a great country.
Brownism is alive and well and intent on destroying the US economy. The coal-fired power station wrecking programme is insane. Better stock up on the candles and lamp oil, folks…
oil supplies are rapidly dwindling …
Yeah, well, except they’re really not.
isn’t that a short way to national impoverishment?”
Yeah, pretty much. If there WERE any recovery, this administration would tax it away forthwith.
Gary the last I looked it was deregulation of banks, read free market, that got everyone into this fiscal mess
What’s got us into “this mess” is TOO MUCH DEBT at all levels, and encouraged by the govt. The numbers aren’t hard to find.
The right hand giveth and the left hand taketh away.
All this Cap and Trade will be a nice addition to Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles MacKay, written in …1841. No difference whatsoever …
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one!”
“Of all the offspring of Time, Error is the most ancient, and is so old and familiar an acquaintance, that Truth, when discovered, comes upon most of us like an intruder, and meets the intruder’s welcome.”
Cap and Trade is a reasonable and economically sound approach to dealing with a pollutant or other externality. But CO2 is NOT a pollutant!
Increasing the partial pressure of CO2 will have a net positive effect on the biosphere truly making the planet a greener place and increasing world food production. Instead of Cap and Trade, given what we know about basic plant biology, It would make more sense to reward those industries which contribute increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere.