Charlatan

There are way more efficiencies to be had than *just* the internal combustion engine.

But to answer that... If we look at the internal combustion engine of Henry Ford's time compared to today we have squeezed much more energy out of our engines that was previously available. Of course, instead of making our cars more efficient we have just made them bigger and faster. In and of itself this is not a problem so long as the overall effect is greater efficiency and less pollution over all.

As a suggested above, it isn't just about cars. It also about how we build our houses (or live with the legacy of what we already have built), how we run our industry, how we use our energy and what we do with our waste.

Many would like to see there be no regulations. Fuck efficiency. I want to do it the cheapest way possible to maximize profits.

This is extremely short sighted and ignores negative externalities such as resperatory illness and death (the cost of which is rarely calculated by industry or economists). And one need not just look at that example of a negative externality, a greater number of heavier vehicles on our roads (i.e. more SUVs) has also increased the wear and tear on our roads and highways. Who pays for these roads? It is not the auto industry, you can be sure of that.

But my point in the post of above was not to get into that side of things... it was simply to state that with proper investment in R&D and stronger regulations greater efficiencies and reduction of pollution can be achieved. This does not require the spectre of Global Warming.

Implimenting it just takes good leadership with an eye towards the long term rather than just sort term gain.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke