Sanity for the Car Industry

President Obama’s new plan for the car industry, as detailed in today’s lead story in The New York Times, is a breath of fresh air after the obstruction by the Bush administration and its refusal to do anything substantive about global warming.

The new emissions standards and mileage improvements proposed by Mr. Obama represent an integration with the plan currently in effect in California, and they were actually welcomed by the automible industry.

That’s because the only thing worse than the current situation, according to their own admission, was the uncertainty previously in effect. There had been several lawsuits because, previously, the California standards were significantly different than the rest of the United States. Now, they are all harmonized.

Environmentalists were pleased, too, because the new standards represent substantive improvements. The current average MPG for the auto fleet is  25 miles per gallon, and the new standard will be 35.5. According to the article, Detroit will be able to make up the difference using current technology.

I must admit it’s good to wake up in the morning, for a change, because the headlines are now describing real improvements to our society and government after the long march backwards of the Bush years. I wait to see what the Obama administration will tackle next.