Source:
NYTWASHINGTON, June 19 — For a quarter-century, American automakers and their allies argued that any legislation to increase fuel economy standards would rob them of profits, force them to lay off workers and deprive consumers of the vehicles they wanted to buy.
Even as recently as last weekend, a lobbying group financed by auto companies was still running radio ads in 11 states, raising the prospect that soccer moms might lose the opportunity to buy big sport utility vehicles if they did not urge Congress to reject legislation calling for higher mileage. “Why can’t they let me make the choice?” one of the ads said. “I’m all for better fuel economy, but for me safety is my top concern.”
But this week, with a vote possible in the Senate on an energy plan, Detroit blinked, and the car companies retreated from their longstanding argument. They are now lobbying for a modest increase in mileage standards, a position already adopted by Toyota, in the hopes of silencing calls for even tougher targets.
Auto executives say they changed strategy partly because longtime backers in Washington, who helped them defeat previous pushes to raise fuel economy standards, made it clear that the political climate had changed. If they did not back a proposal they could live with, lawmakers told the automakers, they might face even more stringent regulations.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/automobiles/20auto.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin