[Vwdiesel] Those anti-SUV ads

[Scott Kair]

    For those who have seen the ads linking SUVs to funding for terrorism,
the source of the mischief has revealed herself.  Gotta love it.
    They're scheduled to be on a couple of the Sunday morning Liars' Operas.
    Cheers,
    Scott Kair
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Arianna's Latest Column


> Dear Friends,
>
> The anti-SUV ad campaign you helped create, which we have named
> The Detroit Project, is unveiling our two 30-second ads (entirely
> funded by your contributions) at a press conference in Los
> Angeles at 10am this morning. The ads are available at
> www.detroitproject.com. Also on our website will be a letter you
> can send to Detroit's automakers, a form to fill out for those
> dumping their SUVs, and a paypal link so that we can raise more
> money and buy additional air time. The ads will start running on
> the political talk shows this Sunday in major markets around the
> country.
>
> All the best,
> Arianna
>
> Road Outrage: How Corporate Greed And Political Corruption Paved
> The Way For The SUV Explosion
>
> By Arianna Huffington
>
> America's automakers have finally sputtered into first gear.
>
> Responding to the growing public outcry over its reckless
> gas-guzzling ways, the auto industry used the Detroit Auto Show
> this week to unveil a line-up of "coming soon to a showroom near
> you" hybrid vehicles -- including a number of hybrid SUVs.
>
> The question -- though I'm willing to bet no one at the car show
> asked it -- is: What took them so long? After all, cars powered
> by a combination of gas and electricity have been around since
> 1905, when the Woods Motor Vehicle Co. offered a dual-powered
> model.
>
> And while Detroit's sudden interest in hybrids after a
> near-century of neglect is certainly a step in the right
> direction, given the fact that many of the prototypes on display
> in the Motor City won't be on showroom floors for years -- if
> ever -- it's fair to wonder just how decisive a step it is.
>
> It's one thing to make a big show of rolling out glittering
> "concept models" intended for future production -- or to promise,
> as GM did, to have a million hybrid vehicles for sale by 2007 "if
> demand is high" -- and quite another to commit the marketing
> resources necessary to create the high demand. Time will tell if
> the industry has really fallen in love with this new/old kid on
> the block or if the industry's embrace of hybrid technology is
> just a one night stand, a here-today-gone-tomorrow defensive
> gambit for the PR cameras.
>
> We have ample reason to question the sincerity of the industry's
> stated intentions. Anyone remember the Supercar, that 80 mpg
> marvel that was supposed to hit the road by 2004 but instead
> managed to eat up $1.5 billion in taxpayer money before being
> abandoned on the side of the highway? Or the FreedomCAR, the Bush
> administration's equally lame "responsible vehicle" partnership
> with Detroit? Both highly touted programs allowed automakers to
> look like they were sweating blood to improve fuel efficiency
> while doing everything in their power to convince consumers to
> buy more and more fuel-inefficient -- and hugely profitable --
> SUVs.
>
> For a good indication of Detroit's real plans, we need look no
> further than this week's L.A. Auto Show. (Yes, I'm a regular on
> the auto show circuit.) There were as many hybrid cars on display
> as there were rickshaws. And in full page newspaper ads headlined
> "What's Up At GM?" the auto giant bragged about having "once
> again shattered the record for SUV sales, topping the million
> mark for the second consecutive year -- propelled by breakout
> vehicles like the one-of-a-kind Hummer H2."
>
> The sales deck is clearly stacked in favor of Detroit's beloved
> behemoths, with billions being spent on SUV advertising and
> ever-more tempting marketing come-ons, like GM's "Zero, Zero,
> Zero" program which was introduced in December and offered
> no-interest financing on 13 of its SUVs for up to 60 months --
> very tempting in these tough times.
>
> Of course, Washington continues to do its part by holding SUVs to
> lower fuel efficiency and air pollution standards than passenger
> cars. Our politicians have even refused to close a deeply
> misguided tax loophole that rewards buyers of extra large -- and
> extra wasteful -- SUVs with extra large tax breaks.
>
> Think of that: at a time when our leaders should be touting the
> importance of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, the people
> being given a financial incentive to purchase a new vehicle are
> those buying fuel-chugging SUVs.
>
> "I was surprised," said Karl Wizinsky, a health care consultant
> from Michigan who just bought a giant Ford Excursion even though
> he admits he doesn't really need it, "that a $32,000 credit on a
> $47,000 purchase was available in the first year. I mean, it is a
> substantial credit." Yes, it is. And it's created a substantial
> -- and artificial -- demand.
>
> It's the kind of lunatic public policy that makes you want to
> slam on your brakes and scream out your car window: How can this
> kind of thing happen?
>
> The answer is as simple as it is distressing: special interest
> money has once again trumped the public interest. That's why the
> auto industry was able to turn its back on hybrid technology for
> so long, and why our politicians refuse to this day to demand
> that the auto industry change its hydrocarbon-loving ways.
>
> The numbers tell the story: the auto industry spent close to $37
> million on lobbying in 2000. And you can bet that money wasn't
> spent trying to convince Congress to designate a "Windshield
> Wiper Appreciation Week." Although I'm sure Congress would have
> been glad to oblige if its deep-pocket pals in Detroit had only
> asked. After all, the industry has donated over $77 million to
> federal candidates and the political parties since the 1990
> election -- with $12.5 million doled out during the 2002 election
> cycle.
>
> It also doesn't hurt to have very good friends in very high
> places. Before becoming White House chief of staff, Andy Card was
> an executive at GM, and before that, the chief lobbyist for the
> Big Three auto makers. And you wondered why the administration
> has thrown its considerable weight behind GM's efforts to
> overturn a California law requiring carmakers to put more
> energy-efficient models on the road?
>
> Because of the corporate takeover of our democracy, Washington
> has remained firmly stuck in the Dark Ages of energy policy. Bill
> Clinton came charging into office promising to raise fuel
> efficiency standards to 45 miles per gallon but left without
> having increased it one inch per gallon. And why George W. Bush
> can try and score points by proposing to raise the ludicrously
> low SUV mileage standard by an equally ludicrous 1.5 mpg over the
> next four years.
>
> It's also why the Big Three, once again, have to play catch up
> with Toyota and Honda, which have been putting out hybrid cars
> since 1997. How ironic that if American car buyers want to do
> something truly patriotic, they have to buy Japanese to do it.
>
> So Detroit has sensed -- belatedly but still ahead of the
> slowcoaches in Washington -- that public opinion is shifting --
> and has taken some baby steps toward meeting the rising demand
> for more socially responsible cars.
>
> Now it's up to all of us to make sure that the pressure and the
> demand continue to grow. Otherwise, the auto industry will gladly
> underfund and under-advertise its hybrid models, allowing them to
> crash and burn -- yet more "proof" that American consumers don't
> really care about anything other than their precious SUVs.
>
> And that would suit those gas-guzzlers in Detroit -- and those
> cash-nuzzlers in Washington - just fine.
>
> ----
>
> If you have questions or comments, please contact me at
> arianna at ariannaonline.com.
>
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