Several interesting topics came up at the Liberty Brew & View showing of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Tuesday night. Over 30 people came to see the movie and hear Illinois State Representative Mike Boland talk about the Illinois Clean Car Bill and other clean energy legislation he's supporting.
Representative Boland mentioned one of the tired old scare tactics auto-industry lobbyists are using against the Illinois Clean Car Bill: that it will cost jobs. They use this rationale so often that they don't even bother to explain or justify the claim anymore. How exactly will it cost jobs? Can't union auto workers make a lower polluting car just as well as old outdated ones? If anything is costing American jobs its the failure of American car companies to offer hybrid and other lower polluting cars that consumers are asking for.
Boland also brought up an electric car company that would like to open a new plant, creating 200 jobs, in Rock Island. One barrier is a state regulation barring smaller electric commuter cars from crossing state highways. This particular brand of car has some speed limitations (not true of all electric cars) that prevent it from traveling on state and federal highways. Boland's bill would allow those cars to go across state highways so they can at least travel across towns that have a state highway going through them.
One point that became obvious during the movie is that American car companies are resisting using existing technology to offer all-electric, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Earlier this year General Motors lost its place as the nation's top selling car manufacture by allowing foreign car companies to take the lead in offering hybrids and other low-emissions vehicles.
Its unfortunate that the United Auto Workers union is siding with auto-manufacturers in their short-sighted opposition to the Illinois Clean Car bill as well as improved federal CAFE standards. Ultimately, GM's outdated business model and insistence on sticking by yesterday's technology is costing far more American union jobs than any environmental regulation.
I support unions but I don't think the political arm of the UAW is serving its membership well on this issue. After all, when car companies aren't scapegoating environmentalists for lost jobs, they're usually blaming high union wages and benefits for moving plants to cheaper labor markets. Better environmental regulations may be what saves American car companies from their own poor business strategies.