How is Senator Kerry's planned announcement tonight of a "$10-billion plan to dramatically reduce America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil" going over in Detroit, a place where this is a "topic that typically angers automakers"? Surprisingly well, judging by the headlines in the Detroit Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/news/politics/cafe29_20040729.htm BOOSTING FUEL EFFICIENCY: Kerry: Billions for car industry
Plan's goal: Cut dependence on oil; keep U.S. jobs
July 29, 2004
BY JEFFREY MCCRACKEN AND RUBY L. BAILEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
BOSTON -- Framing it as a national security and foreign-policy concern rather than an environmental one, Sen. John Kerry in his much-anticipated speech tonight is expected to call on the nation and auto industry to support a $10-billion plan to dramatically reduce America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
As Kerry made a triumphant arrival in Boston and his running mate, John Edwards, accepted the party's nomination, Democrats said Kerry is likely to avoid mention of increasing mandatory fuel-efficiency standards for the auto industry -- a topic that typically angers automakers and the UAW alike. Instead, he will focus on offering automakers billions of dollars over 10 years to alter their auto plants to build more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The catch is that the money could only go toward new or renovated auto-assembly plants in the United States, a proposal specifically designed to appeal to the auto industry and workers in Michigan, an important swing state for both Kerry and President George W. Bush.
While Kerry insiders and others familiar with the proposal said he likely won't go into great detail in his speech to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Kerry's plan also calls for tax credits or incentives for consumers to purchase fuel-efficient vehicles, the creation of an institute to develop hydrogen-based fuels and an unspecified increase in corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards. More details will come, a Kerry policy adviser told the Free Press.
Past Democratic candidates have pushed to increase CAFE standards or to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption, but usually justified it as an environmental issue. This time, Kerry is tying oil dependence to international security and the war in Iraq as part of the debate about how to win the war on terrorism. <snip>
"What I like is that Kerry is focused on ensuring the advanced technology is built in this country," said Reuther. <snip>