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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Nuisance Review
Judge tosses out lawsuit brought by California against automakers |
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18 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:21 AM on 18 Sep 2007 Automakers gained an edge yesterday in the Big Auto vs. California debate, as a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit against the world's six largest auto companies brought by California Attorney General Jerry Brown. Brown had claimed that because of the harmful environmental effects of vehicles' greenhouse-gas emissions, the Big Six were running afoul of California's public nuisance ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, California, cars, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, litigation, news, politics, state politics (all these topics) |
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Govs to automakers: Get on board
An open letter from 13 governors to U.S. automakers |
David Roberts |
12 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| As you know, today automakers lost their big lawsuit in Vermont -- the judge ruled their their objections to higher tailpipe emission standards were, um, silly. Now, the governors of 13 states have sent an open letter to the automakers. "We do not believe it is productive for your industry to continue to fight state implementation of clean tailpipe standards," they say. "We would prefer to follow a path that encourages innovation, not litigation.&qu ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics) |
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Sass Is in Sessions
Judge rules against Big Auto, says states can regulate emissions from cars |
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12 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 11:11 AM on 12 Sep 2007 States should be allowed to restrict greenhouse-gas emissions from cars, and Big Auto should just deal, a federal judge ruled today. Right now, the only real way to curb the emissions is to improve gas mileage; when Vermont decided to adopt California's strict emissions rules, automakers sued, claiming that the state was illegally regulating fuel economy -- and that ma ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, climate, energy, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, litigation, news, politics, regulation ... (all these topics) |
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Classy Consciousness
Honda to release unique-looking hybrid for conspicuous greens |
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28 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Classy Consciousness Honda to release unique-looking hybrid for conspicuous greens Honda plans to make its hybrid cars more visible by 2009 by redesigning their exterior to stand out from the rest of its models. One of the reasons Honda has been trailing hybrid-market leader Toyota by such a large margin, according to industry analysts, is the Toyota Prius' unique shape that helps the public id ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, electric vehicles, hybrids, news (all these topics) |
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Lovely Nissan, Meter Made
Nissan to install fuel-efficiency gauge in all its models |
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22 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Lovely Nissan, Meter Made Nissan to install fuel-efficiency gauge in all its models Automaker Nissan announced plans yesterday to install a gauge in all its vehicles that estimates fuel-efficiency to let drivers know how their driving habits affect gas mileage. The gauge already appears in some of Nissan's newest luxury cars, but its plan to eventually showcase the efficiency meter in every model has drawn praise ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, fuel efficiency, news (all these topics) |
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Two, Four, Six, Eight, Why Do We Procrastinate?
Big Auto to host fuel-economy rallies in Midwestern cities |
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15 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Two, Four, Six, Eight, Why Do We Procrastinate? Big Auto to host fuel-economy rallies in Midwestern cities Revved up over fuel-economy rules, Detroit's Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers will hold rallies in Chicago and St. Louis this week and next. The demonstrations are a reaction against the U.S. Senate energy bill, passed in June, which would raise fuel economy for both cars and trucks to 35 ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, legislation, news (all these topics) |
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If I Could Escape
Ford, Southern California Edison partner to test plug-in hybrids |
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10 Jul 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| If I Could Escape Ford, Southern California Edison partner to test plug-in hybrids Two No. 2 businesses have unveiled a first-of-its-kind alliance: Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 automaker in the U.S., and Southern California Edison, the country's second-largest utility, will partner for "real-world" testing of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Starting late this year, F ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, electric vehicles, green living, hybrids, innovation, news (all these topics) |
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From SUVs to solar panels
Do higher MPG cars mean fewer jobs? |
Jon Rynn |
05 Jul 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The Chicago Tribune has an article in today's paper entitled 'MPG bill could cost UAW jobs; Workers fear SUV plant's fate sealed,' although the article itself isn't as shrill as the title suggests. At first glance, the article looks like the classic 'those environmentalists are going to take away your jobs' piece, but the author presents data for the other side, that is, that the problems of the auto industry are the problems of the managers of the auto industry: Hig ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, green living, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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How scary ...
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David Roberts |
07 Jun 2007 |
Gristmill |
| ... is this picture? |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, energy, fuel efficiency (all these topics) |
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The Whine of the Motor
Big Auto pleads for smaller gains in fuel efficiency |
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07 Jun 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| The Whine of the Motor Big Auto pleads for smaller gains in fuel efficiency The heads of Ford, GM, and Chrysler returned to Washington, D.C., yesterday to try to convince Congress not to hike fuel economy standards. Next week, the Senate will consider a proposal to raise average fleet-wide mileage to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 from the current 25; several bills have sprung up to float more modest increases. At least two ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, climate, Congress, news (all these topics) |
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A handy comeback
Use this one to win every argument |
Katharine Wroth |
07 Jun 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Today's Wicked Awesome Comeback comes from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. Doesn't matter whom he said it to, or why (OK, it was to Big Auto because they're raising a stink about fuel efficiency) -- it's applicable in all kinds of situations: 'I think your position is yesterday forever. |
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| Topics: Big Auto, Congress, politics (all these topics) |
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Flaws in the Boucher bill
It would pre-empt state fuel efficiency laws |
Joseph Romm |
05 Jun 2007 |
Gristmill |
| An energy bill is emerging from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but it has some "unacceptable" provisions, according to leading energy and environmental experts. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, has a draft bill online, along with summaries of key provisions. The bill has a variety of important provisions aimed at promoting energy efficiency in electricity and vehicles -- and some useful provisions ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, Big Auto, California, cars, Congress, Ed Markey, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, Nancy Pelosi, politics (all these topics) |
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Can Hemp Dashboards Be Far Behind?
Union leader, Ford call for green progress in Detroit |
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01 Jun 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Can Hemp Dashboards Be Far Behind? Union leader, Ford call for green progress in Detroit Could Big Auto be shifting gears? Speaking at a business conference on Michigan's (car-free) Mackinac Island yesterday, Ford Motor Company Chair Bill Ford Jr. and United Automobile Workers President Ron Gettelfinger both addressed the need for Detroit to get with the green program. "Unfortunately, there is an impression among th ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, climate, news (all these topics) |
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GM Volts into the lead
Looks like the plug-in might actually happen |
Joseph Romm |
30 May 2007 |
Gristmill |
| General Motors is apparently serious about introducing a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which I have repeatedly argued is the car of the future (PDF). The race is now on between Toyota and GM as to who will be the first to introduce this game-changing vehicle. The Chevy Volt is to be the "legacy" of Robert Lutz, GM's vice chair of product development, according to Business Week's "Auto Beat" column. The Volt will go about 40 miles on an electr ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, electric vehicles, energy, green living, hybrids, innovation (all these topics) |
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Strange bedfellows in climate politics
A Nation columnist goes contrarian; GM goes the other way |
Charles Komanoff |
22 May 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Did lefty pundit Alexander Cockburn and corporate behemoth General Motors secretly agree to swap climate positions? It looks that way. GM, swallowing hard, recently joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, the elite enviro-business coalition pushing cap-and-trade -- a so-called "market-based system" for controlling carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, the famously acidic Cockburn lacerated global warming orthodoxy in his column in the Nation ma ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, climate change skepticism, greening biz operations, US CAP (all these topics) |
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Remember When Driving Was Fun?
States sue over fuel standards, Bush announces emissions baby steps |
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15 May 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Remember When Driving Was Fun? States sue over fuel standards, Bush announces emissions baby steps California Attorney General Jerry Brown held forth on the steps of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, leading a group of 11 states suing the feds over "dangerously weak" fuel-efficiency standards. "The Bush administration has its head in the sand, and we hope the court wakes the ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, energy, fuel efficiency, news (all these topics) |
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Doin' What Comes Unnaturally
GM joins climate pact, Citigroup pledges $50 billion to fight warming |
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10 May 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Doin' What Comes Unnaturally GM joins climate pact, Citigroup pledges $50 billion to fight warming This week saw big businesses make big strides toward climate action -- or at least talking about climate action. The U.S. Climate Action Partnership doubled its ranks, adding 14 businesses and green groups including GM, Dow Chemical, PepsiCo, and Shell. Since forming in January, U.S. C ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, climate change mitigation, greenish companies, news (all these topics) |
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Traded In His Chevy for a Cad Attack
Speaking in Detroit, Obama tells Big Auto where to go |
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08 May 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Traded In His Chevy for a Cad Attack Speaking in Detroit, Obama tells Big Auto where to go Presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took his rhetoric to Detroit yesterday, challenging the U.S. auto industry to get with the times. "The need to drastically change our energy policy is no longer a debatable proposition," he said in a speech to the city's Economic Club. "It i ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, Big Auto, business, Michigan, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Bob Lutz needs a vacation
Read his cranky email to a consumer |
David Roberts |
30 Mar 2007 |
Gristmill |
| A reader wrote in to share this email exchange. This is the email she sent to GM -- as I understand, it's a form letter you can sign and send from the Plugin America website. Dear Sir, I am tired of being held by the throat by oil companies and I want to buy a car that uses cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity for even a part of its overall range. Saturn used to lease the most efficient vehicle ever built. Since GM destroyed all EV1s, GM has not shown ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, electric vehicles, green living, hybrids, jackassery (all these topics) |
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Fuel Me Twice
Bush, Big Auto agree that ethanol is the way of the future ... again |
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27 Mar 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Fuel Me Twice Bush, Big Auto agree that ethanol is the way of the future ... again Detroit's Big Three automakers cruised to the White House yesterday to plead their case for improving biofuels access and to remind the president that they're not so keen on that whole "improving fuel economy" idea. Bush played along by plugging a power cord into a Ford hydrogen concept car for the cameras ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, energy, ethanol, George Bush, news (all these topics) |
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I Think I Can't, I Think I Can't
Automakers tell Congress why fuel-economy improvements won't work |
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15 Mar 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| I Think I Can't, I Think I Can't Automakers tell Congress why fuel-economy improvements won't work Congress hosted a few more cranky white men yesterday, as the CEOs of Chrysler, Ford, GM, and Toyota's North American division appeared before a House subcommittee to explain why they couldn't possibly raise fuel-economy standards. Joined by the head of the United Auto Workers, the churlish chief ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, climate, climate change mitigation, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Instructions, pod leader?
Where is the leadership? |
biodiversivist |
26 Feb 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The Ford Motor Company has come upon hard times. I may no longer qualify as a Grist brokeass, but I am still one at heart, and empathize with those thirty-odd thousand people who have lost or will soon lose their jobs. I have owned six cars in my life. Four of them were Pintos. Ford is a sinking ship and its captain was the first one to jump. A new pod leader has landed and his name is Alan Mulally. Alan, having been passed over multiple times for the CEO position ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, energy efficiency, hybrids, politics, Prius (all these topics) |
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Cleaner by the Dozen
Green group produces list of top 12 eco-friendly vehicles |
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07 Feb 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Cleaner by the Dozen Green group produces list of top 12 eco-friendly vehicles American autos are drowning their sorrows in foreign oil after not making the 2007 Green Book list of the top 12 eco-friendly vehicles, released yesterday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Honda's natural-gas-powered Civic GX (available only in California and New York) regain ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, consumerism, electric vehicles, hybrids, lists, news, Prius (all these topics) |
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Engineers Gone Wild
Automakers combine forces to develop new hybrid transmission |
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15 Aug 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Engineers Gone Wild Automakers combine forces to develop new hybrid transmission Tired of getting their rear ends handed to them by the Prius, GM, BMW, and DaimlerChrysler plan to invest over $1 billion in R&D toward a new hybrid transmission that, boosters say, will leave Toyota's market-leading hybrid in the dust. "Dual-mode" hybrid technology includes an onboard fuel-optimiz ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, electric vehicles, hybrids, news, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Stuck in neutral
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Clark Williams-Derry |
18 Jul 2006 |
Gristmill |
| According to The Washington Post, U.S. fuel economy is stuck in neutral: despite high gas prices, vehicle fuel economy hasn't improved a whit compared with the previous year.But wait, it gets worse.Honda's new car fleet was the most efficient, with an average rated fuel economy of ... wait for it ... a whopping 24.2 mpg. Toyota, the manufacturer of the Prius, came in second, at 23.8 mpg. Daimler-Chrysler trailed the pack, with new vehicles averaging just over 1 ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, politics, Prius (all these topics) |
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