When President Barack Obama announced that the White House and the auto industry had come to an agreement on a future fleet mileage goal of 54.5 miler per gallon did it signal the death of the American auto industry? After all, who will have to pay for all those extra $BILLIONS$ for the R&D that might not work out even then? How many people will want to buy a go-cart sized car or truck? What will happen to the US Auto Industry when China, which owns about 25% of Americas National Debt, markets its autos in America that don’t have that ‘extra’ $10,000 (for the extra R&D) a car, on its windshield sticker? Will the US Auto Industry end up like the American Electronics Industry? Dead!
America has been super rich and super strong since it emerged unscathed from WWII. With the rest of the industrialized world bombed and nuked into rubble if you wanted a new toaster or a new car anywhere in the world, it was a very good bet that it was an American toaster or an American car. With Americas Industry super strong and super rich Americas Government had no reservations about kicking it in the guts every now and again to gain a few extra votes come election day. But Japan, Germany and the rest of the industrialized world have rebuilt their industry and America did not stop its industry destroying ways. So it came to pass that many of Americas industries died or have been severely diminished along with their good paying jobs. America has been kicking its Business and Industry around for so many decades it doesn’t even recognize, as with the 54.5 MPG mandate shown above, when it is doing it. Environmentally and socially ‘just’ goals that destroy American business and Industry with their good paying jobs are destroying America! Just look at what ‘good’ intentions did to hundreds of thousands of very good paying jobs in the US steel industry.
From US Steel on Wikipedia.
” Between October 26 and October 31, 1948 an air inversion trapped industrial effluent (air pollution) from the American Steel and Wire plant and U.S. Steel’s Donora Zinc Works in Donora, Pennsylvania. “In three days, 20 people died… After the inversion lifted, another 50 died, including Lukasz Musial, the father of baseball great Stan Musial. Hundreds more finished the rest of their lives with damaged lungs and hearts. But another 40 years would pass before the whole truth about Donora’s bad air made public-health history.” Today the town is home to the Donora Smog Museum which tells the impact of the Donora Smog on the air quality standards enacted by the federal government in subsequent years.”
From EPA website.
“Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people”
But at what cost in high paying jobs?
In 1969 the American steel industry made 141 million metric tons of steel and had a workforce of 521,000. By 2000 Americas steel industry was producing only 80 million metric tons of steel, only 56% of what it was producing thirty years before and its workforce was only 151,000! This is a decline of 370,000 high paying jobs! Lost forever in the name of doing whats environmentally correct. There is also no doubt that if it were not for the US Military demanding that its ships and tanks be built with American steel, there would not be enough steel produced in America to make a tin cup. Be it known that this is the loss of jobs from just one industry. The Federal Government and its EPA have been very busy in the name of doing whats right.
Here are just a few of the hundreds laws that our Government has passed in the name of doing whats right but still kick Americas Business and Industry in the guts!
The Equal Pay Act of 1963.
The Clean Air Act of 1963.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
The Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965.
The Age discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968.
The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973.
The Clean Water Act of 1977.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1986.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
The Transportation Equality Act of 2005.
Etc. Etc. Etc.
All of these laws would be considered ‘good’ by many but these laws and a whole lot more make doing business in America very hard and very expansive. If you think that China has these same laws imposed against its Business and Industry, think again. It is one thing to be terrible to Business and Industry when it is the only Industry in the World as American Industry was after WWII and they can charge a high price to offset the higher costs, but another thing entirely to be terrible to your Industry’s after a pulverized Germany and a nuked Japan have been rebuilt.
The time is here when America must decide to ether do what it thinks is environmentally and socially right, no matter what the cost, or do what it takes to provide a good and hopeful future for its children.
AFC
