Reply #24: GM's Wagoner: Government should support alternative fuels [View All]

[54anickel]

http://www.suntimes.com/classifieds/autos/autonews/241982,wagoner05.article

DEARBORN, Mich. -- With oil prices at a 19-month low, you'd think General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner would be giddy.
After all, it's high gasoline prices during the past two years that led to hard times for his company and the rest of the traditional domestic automakers.

Yes, he's happy that the price of oil has dropped below $52 a barrel, a 19-month low. But he also doesn't think it will last.

At an auto industry conference in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Wagoner called on the U.S. government to support diversifying America's energy supply by using tax credits or fuel subsidies to promote development of ethanol, hydrogen fuel cells and advanced battery technology.

"We run the risk of reverting back to our traditional energy policy," he told the Automotive News World Congress last month. "That is, relying on the lowest-cost energy available on world markets without providing adequate support for developing alternative sources."

Wagoner said automakers need to lead the way, but government and other industries such as oil, electric utilities, battery companies and research laboratories also must play a role.

He said marketplace reality is going to require the government to step in and promote U.S. energy security and diversity "regardless of what happens to the price of oil in the short term."

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