Jewish World Review Jan. 16, 2002 / 3 Shevat, 5762
Debra J. Saunders
Son of Supercar
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com --
DON'T CRY for the Partnership for a New
Generation of Vehicles, a federal program
conceived by the Clinton administration in 1993 and
terminated by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
after consuming $1.5 billion of your tax dollars, with
matching funds from the Big Three.
The administration called it the Supercar. But
Porkmobile would have been more like it.
Yes, the PNGV's purpose was noble:
Manufacturing an affordable family car that gets 80
miles per gallon, with production of a prototype by
2004. But it was destined to stall. The technology
simply doesn't exist to make a family- size car with
close to three times the fuel efficiency of most cars
-- and at an affordable cost. Said Abraham
spokeswoman Jill Schroeder, the PNGV was
saddled with "a bad mission from the get-go."
The only thing the Supercar could do proficiently
was provide camouflage. Camouflage for President
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, who ran for
office on promises to legislate for average fuel
efficiency of 40 to 45 miles per gallon, but never
bothered to raise by even one ounce the 27.5 mpg
standard set in 1988. And camouflage for the Big
Three, so that they could say they were working to
improve fuel efficiency, even as they manufactured
bigger and more monstrous gas guzzlers.
Thus, Abraham is to be commended for euthanizing
the PNGV.
Except that he is replacing the PNGV with
something perhaps even more egregious. Exit the
Supercar. Enter what Abraham calls the "Freedom
CAR." (CAR stands for Cooperative Automotive
Research.)
And this should send a shiver down your spine:
Funding unknown, although the word is that it will
not be cheaper than the junked PNGV.
Freedom CAR's goal is to produce affordable cars
powered by fuel cells, which convert hydrogen to
electricity and leave only water as a byproduct. If it
were to work, America's dependence on foreign oil
would end.
Affordable is a toughie. Said Andrew Frank, a
mechanical engineering professor at the University
of California at Davis, "You can't buy a fuel cell for
less than $100,000" -- and that doesn't include the
car.
Other problems are, well, getting hydrogen. "There
are no hydrogen mines," Frank noted. The cells
likely would make hydrogen from gasoline or some
other fuel. Which raises a number of safety issues
concerning volatile fuel, high- pressure machinery
and fast-moving vehicles.
Time is the biggest problem. Schroeder estimated it
would take 10 to 20 years to hit paydirt. The Wall
Street Journal reported that Iceland plans to convert
to an all fuel-cell economy but does not expect to
finish the conversion until 2030.
And as Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union
noted, "If (automobile fuel cells) have such great
promise, investors in the private sector would be
lined outside the door to get in on the ground floor."
With the budget problems he's about to have,
President Bush should save the taxpayers some
money and leave the Freedom CAR abandoned at
the side of the highway of life.
Instead of funding research for the next generation
of drivers, Bush should work to decrease American
consumption of oil by raising car fuel efficiency
standards. It's in the nation's security interests to do
so, and the administration -- this is a change -- is
studying the issue.
Instead of taking taxpayers for a ride, Bush should
put the brakes on Detroit's long, gas-guzzling
ride.
Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here.
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