[Mr. Wyndham]

U.S. automakers need federal research money, GM's Wagoner tells Obama
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau

PITTSBURGH -- U.S. carmakers need a boost in federal research spending and incentives for consumers to adopt new and expensive technologies, General Motors Corp.'s top executive told Barack Obama Thursday.

Obama kicked off a forum with top business and academic leaders with a question to GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, asking what the next president can do to help domestic automakers adjust to rising gas prices and increasing environmental concerns.

"We've got a lot of smart people working" on new technologies such as battery-powered vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells, Wagoner said, but government support for basic research on new energy technologies is crucial.

"We need to keep in mind ... application of these new technologies is pretty expensive," Wagoner said. "We need to provide some support to make sure these new technologies are affordable to consumers."

The exchange highlighted the attention Obama and his Republican opponent, John McCain, have paid to auto issues. Obama met Wednesday with a group of business executives including Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally; on Friday, McCain will tour GM's Lordstown, Ohio, plant and meet with workers there.

Obama sparked criticism from many in the industry last year when, in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, he criticized automakers for failing to build more fuel-efficient cars -- a speech he has repeatedly referred to in campaign ads and appearances.

But at Thursday's forum on the Carnegie Mellon University campus, Wagoner sat just to Obama's left on a stage with some of the nation's top technology and academic leaders, and Obama kicked off the forum by asking, basically, what he could do to help lift the domestic carmakers out of their massive financial losses.

Referring to those losses and GM's recent decision to close a series of plants -- including a Wisconsin factory Obama visited during the primary campaign there -- Obama asked, "How do we shape our energy future in a way that allows GM to remain competitive, keeps some of the best workers in the world on their jobs and generates profits for the company and shareholders?"

Wagoner sounded a note of optimism, noting GM's plan to introduce the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt by 2010 and more advanced research on hydrogen fuel-cells. But he said the researchers developing batteries for hybrids and taking hydrogen power from the lab to the highway need federal research money. And he asked for government help to offset the high costs of newer technologies for consumers -- aid that traditionally has come in the form of tax credits.

And Wagoner suggested that the carmakers' "relatively weak balance sheets" make it difficult for them to make the large capital investments needed to shift production lines to new vehicles.

Later in the session, Obama discussed his proposal for a cap and trade program to limit carbon emissions. The plan would auction off rights to pump carbon into the atmosphere; proceeds from that auction would go to research funding and consumer aid to cope with higher energy bills.

John P. Surma, the chairman and CEO of United States Steel Corp., raised a potential objection: that such a system would shift steel production to companies without a price on carbon, costing U.S. jobs and failing to reduce emissions.

But Wagoner sounded a more confident tone about adjusting to such a system. "The United States has a responsibility to lead in this area but want to do this in a way that grows our economy," Wagoner said. "If we can show that we can put in a system that improves our economic prospects, I'm completely confident that China, India and Brazil will say, 'We want do that.' "

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...CS01/806260453

Go, Rick!!
It's nice to see somebody tell this directly to their faces.