What should be done with the Auto industry?

If the demand for green cars is there, someone will manufacture a green car. It is not up to the government to mandate green cars. That is a recipe for disaster The market must be allowed to function .The Auto & Transportation Industry will manufacture & purchase fuel efficient vehicles that are cost effective. What are you driving? How green is your lifestyle?You want a green evolution, put your money where your mouth is.

I agree.

And we're caught between a rock and a hard place. We can't let GM, Chrysler, and Ford fail; the economic repercussions would be too great. On the other hand, I can't imagine rewarding absolute incompetence with hundreds of billions of dollars.

So we provide the money with lots of strings attached. And, yes, this heads into socialism, which I really don't like either. But we require extreme fuel efficiency and clean operations--it should make California regulations (the toughest in the country) look lax.

The problem is that this isn't just an issue of "freedom of choice" so a soccer mom can buy an oversized van or a parent can buy their kids an SUV. It ties in with national security--energy use and purchase--and with long term health.

Also, you institute a buy-out plan for older vehicles on the road: the ones that are responsible for a lion's share of the hydrocarbons and other pollutants, and which get mediocre gas mileage. Something like a tax credit based on the age of the vehicle--any vehicle 5 years old would qualify for a tax credit of $3,000 with the purchase of a new "green" vehicle, with the tax credit rising $750 for each additional year of age of the traded-in vehicle. The government would purchase and recycle the old vehicles at some percentage of the Blue Book value. Any vehicle over 10 years old would be subject to an additional tax of $1,000.

Yes, it'd be costly. But it would prompt a mass conversion over to newer, more fuel-efficient and green cars.

In a way, it's the "perfect storm" of financial collapse, automaker incompetence, and a volatile Middle East that provides the opening to do something significant about the problem.

As a side note, heard a great suggestion on TV this morning. If he'd do it, make Steve Jobs (or someone like him...if there is anyone like him) head of one of the auto companies. He showed that you could quickly take a foundering company--once great, but then mismanaged--and turn it around quickly. Imagine if there were a tenth of the creativity and innovation in cars that there is in the iPhone or the Mac. And imagine the enthusiasm among consumers if cars had the same combination of style and functionality that the Apple products do.

Nix it. I haven't owned an auto for six years and I couldn't be happier.

If only more money was put into bicycles, we could all have really nice bikes!

42,000: auto-related deaths in US every year. Talk about terrorism...