A quintet of House members have a bill in the works which addresses the green goal of taking gas-guzzling vehicles off the road, will directly help automakers sell fuel-efficient vehicles in their place – and in a sane and just society, spark an advertising war between automakers with efficient vehicles to sell.
The Reps are John Dingell, (D-MI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jay Inslee (D-WA), Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Betty Sutton (D-OH). All are members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Sutton has introduced a bill on the matter, H.R. 520.
Here’s how it works for cars: The owner of a vehicle which gets 18 mpg or lower, as defined by EPA window sticker values, may trade it in for a new vehicle which gets a minimum of 22 mpg. If that minimum separation between the old and new vehicle applies, the consumer would get a voucher worth $3.5K to apply to the new car. If the difference is 10 mpg, the consumer would get a $4.5K voucher.
Similar arrangements are available for light-duty trucks, large light-duty trucks and work trucks.
RBR/TVBR observation: A healthy auto industry will go a long ways toward restoring the health of the broadcasting business. We’d get behind this proposal with as much oomph as possible.
