"Green Technology"

Good for Union Business

By Jim Motavalli
June/July Issue, 2004

When Toyota launched the U.S. edition of the hybrid Prius in 2000, it had already been available on the Japanese market for two years. American carmakers were dumbfounded that Toyota had been able to work under the radar to create such a competent 52-mile-per-gallon sedan – with seamless integration between the gasoline and electric drivetrains.

Although U.S. automakers launched catch-up programs, it will be nearly four years (and several production delays) before the first American hybrid reaches willing customers this summer. Ford’s Escape Hybrid will be the world’s first hybrid SUV when it is launched in August.

General Motors and Daimler Chrysler are also introducing “mild” hybrid pickup trucks later this year, and several other hybrid offerings over the next several years. Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda are offering several new hybrid models, including an all-new 2004 Prius – with added power, interior space and fuel economy. Some 10,000 advance orders were received, and customers are waiting an average of six months for delivery.

In 2001 remarks to Congress, Alan Reuther, legislative director of the United Auto Workers (UAW), testified that the union “continues to be deeply concerned about the outsourcing of small car production.” He added, “If the trend toward fuel conservation and self-reliance continues, as it should, small cars may again be the vehicle of choice for many consumers. Unless we retain domestic sources of small car production, consumers would be forced to purchase foreign-made vehicles.”

Common Cause

It’s plain that Reuther was on to something. Chevrolet once built small cars like the Chevette and Vega in the U.S. Now its new small car, the Aveo, is built by Daewoo in Bupyong, South Korea. The small car market is tiny compared to that of SUVs, but Americans still buy one million compacts and sub-compacts every year

The Ecology Center’s Clean Car Campaign, in alliance with other environmental groups, recognizes the need to make common cause with the auto unions to advance common goals on fuel economy. Last February, Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, co-authored an op-ed piece in The New York Times with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger that opposed a Bush administration effort that could weaken the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The writers contended that, in addition to reducing fuel economy and increasing global warming emissions, the changes would make it easier to “outsource” small car production overseas.

It’s becoming apparent to many observers that some kind of “perfect storm” is developing over both fuel economy and tailpipe emissions. Fuel prices are soaring, as is the import of oil from some of the world’s most dangerous places. Concern about climate change is also accelerating. Today, more than half of our oil arrives on foreign tankers, with 500,000 barrels a day coming from Iraq alone. Meanwhile, average fuel economy in the 2002 model year sank to its lowest level in more than 20 years. Partly because they burn more fuel, U.S. cars and trucks are responsible for more than 20 percent of global warming emissions.

Dialogues in Detroit

Since last year, the UAW, environmentalists, and the Big Three automakers have been holding dialogues in Detroit about their common interests in the fuel-economy arena, organized by the Energy Future Coalition. The coalition’s transportation working group has called for consumer-based “incentives for purchase of fuel-efficient advanced technology vehicles tied to energy and environmental performance.”

And according to Reuther, another issue on the table is a tax credit or “some sort of grant” to automakers that convert existing facilities to produce clean vehicles or clean vehicle technology. “We have legislation to give consumers tax credits for hybrids, which is fine for creating demand,” Reuther said, “but it doesn’t guarantee the vehicles will be built in this country.”

In fact, until the introduction of the Escape hybrid, all of the tax credits will be going to foreign-built vehicles. “We’ve found an area where the union and environmental groups can come to some kind of agreement,” Reuther said. “And Senator Kerry [endorsed by the UAW] has signed on to the notion.”

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The New Apollo Project, which would create 1.4 million new jobs through initiatives to create more efficient factories, advanced technology for hybrid cars, and improved mass transit, has been endorsed by 17 labor unions, including the UAW, United Steel Workers and the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council. According to the Washington-based Apollo Alliance, “For just a fraction of the $70 billion America will lose each year to off-shore tax havens, we can close the growing technology gap between the U.S. and our economic competitors.” The plan calls for $300 billion in federal spending over 10 years. Supporters liken it to John F. Kennedy’s Apollo space project, which put a man on the moon in less than a decade.

Green Machines

Clean technology is already good business for American unions. The Ecology Center is currently planning a “Green Machines” educational campaign to call attention to the need for greater domestic investment in these technologies. The Center’s research points out that more than 30 UAW-organized auto plants in 14 states are already building fuel-efficient vehicles and components, or will be soon. These include not only the upcoming hybrid offerings from Big Three companies, but also a range of more efficient engines, transmissions, and electronic systems that help keep the industry competitive.

Fuel prices are soaring, as is the import of oil from some of the world's most dangerous places.

For example, leading-edge vehicles that will employ fuel-saving technology include the new Mercury Montego and Ford Five Hundred sedans, which will employ economy-minded continuously variable transmissions (CVT) for an 8 to 10 percent savings. The vehicles are being built by 2,500 UAW-represented Ford workers in Chicago, organized by local 551. The three vehicles are expected to add 400 to 600 new jobs at the plant. A CVT transmission (similar to the VTi variable transmission offered in Saturn Vue and Ion models) will be standard in the Ford Freestyle SUV, also built in Chicago.

Ecology Center research has found that advanced technology spending to improve fuel economy has already added 700 new jobs in Kentucky and Illinois, and helped to save more than 2,300 positions that would have been eliminated at factories in New York, Ohio, and Michigan. It’s clear, then, that investment and cleaner technology go hand in hand. For American workers, that’s good business.

For more information about the Ecology Center’s Green Machines campaign, look for announcements at www.ecocenter.org. To find out about the Apollo Project, and its plan for good jobs and energy independence, visit www.apolloalliance.org.

Jim Motavalli is the editor of E: The Environmental Magazine, and author of several books on automobiles and transportation issues.

S I D E B A R :

Upcoming Domestic Production of Hybrid Vehicles

Ford Escape Hybrid (2004)
More than 50% Fuel Economy Improvement

Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Mild Hybrids (2004)
12% Fuel Economy Improvement

Dodge Ram Mild Hybrid (2004)
15% Fuel Economy Improvement

Hybrid Electric Transit Buses (2004)
60% Fuel Economy Improvement

Saturn Vue Mild Hybrid (2006)
12-15% Fuel Economy Improvement

Mercury Mariner Hybrid (2006)
More than 50% Fuel Economy Improvement

GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrids (2007)
30% Fuel Economy Improvement

Chevrolet Malibu Mild Hybrid (2008)
12-15% Fuel Economy Improvement

The New Apollo Project's 10-Point Plan for Good Jobs & Energy Independence

1. Promote advanced technology and hybrid cars.
2. Invest in more efficient factories.
3. Encourage high-performance building.
4. Increase use of energy-efficient appliances.
5. Modernize electrical infrastructure.
6. Expand renewable energy development.
7. Improve transportation options.
8. Reinvest in smart urban growth.
9. Plan for a hydrogen future.
10. Preserve regulatory protections.

Advanced Technologies

Hybrid Electric Vehicles combine an engine with electric motor and battery to provide additional power, improved fuel economy, and reduced emissions. Hybrids range from “mild” to “full” depending on the amount of electrical power they provide.

Advanced Engines utilize variable valve timing or cylinder deactivation to adjust their intake and outtake to improve fuel economy and control emissions.

Advanced Transmissions nclude continuously variable transmissions that eliminate gears, and automatic five and six speed transmissions that increase the number of gear ratios, to provide smoother acceleration and improved fuel economy

Vehicle Load Reductions include the use of lightweight materials and other components such as electric power steering that reduce the amount of power needed to move the vehicle.

Advanced Emission Controls are used to reduce harmful emissions; they are included in Partial Zero Emission Vehicles (PZEV) and advanced diesels.

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