She was also on the program and did fairly well. But still, if you
have a totally unscrupulous Catzman, who has no respect
for facts and truth?
Hakan
At 05:49 PM 1/8/2003 -0800, you wrote:
> > 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.
> >
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