Hillary: CAFE Hike, Billions for Industry and Hybrid Buyers

Back in May, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton refused to endorse a specific change to federally-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. In a speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the former first lady jumped into the debate with both feet. The Detroit News reports that Ms Clinton gave her support to non-existent legislation that would raise U.S. automakers' CAFE averages to 55 miles per gallon by 2030. Hang on; the toughest standard currently under consideration would hoik the CAFE standard to 35mpg by 2020. How the Hell would Detroit up their fleets' fuel economy average by 2mpg per year for 10 years after that? Why, by using the $20b in low-interest government funds she's promising to help them retool factories. Plus $2b in R&D funding for battery research. And a $10k tax credit for consumers who purchase an as yet non-existent plug-in hybrid. Oh, and the aspiring president said she'd add 100k as yet non-existent plug-in hybrids to the federal government's vehicular fleet by 2015. It'll be worth it, too, because "these tough CAFE standards will save consumers more than $180b per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 730 million metric tons." When asked to comment, one auto official replied "it's futile to comment when the candidates are engaged in one-upsmanship."