Senator Bayh Promises $1.63b for Battery Makers
It’s ALWAYS Christmas in D.C.! Indiana democrat Senator Evan Bayh would like to say hello to the New Year with $1.63b worth of grants to American automotive battery makers. “For a fraction of what the federal government has spent to bail out Wall Street, we can create the next generation of high-mileage vehicles,” Bayh pronounced, neglecting to mention the $38.4b the feds have allocated to the domestic auto industry as of late– which doesn’t include the tens of billions headed to the newly-created GMAC bank. Local angle? You betcha! “Indiana can lead the way with cutting-edge technology being made right here within our borders,” Senator Bayh’s statement said. “Our state can help America move past Band-Aid solutions and help ensure the long-term viability of the domestic automobile industry.” That’s kind of low-key– given the level of PC bluster surrounding the incoming adminstration’s push for “green jobs.” Take two…
“It is a critical time for our country to make a serious push for electric transportation technologies as part of a comprehensive solution to decreasing our dependence on imported oil,” Bayh and his colleagues wrote [in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell]. “These programs and the new technologies deployed as a result of these programs will also stimulate the economy and help build a globally competitive advanced technology vehicle workforce in the United States.”
Sounds like a boondoggle plan to me! Now how much rhetoric do federal teat suckers need? Well don’t answer! Autobloggreen (from whom we snagged this link) repeats the Senator’s closing argument.
“Investments in battery and grid technology and manufacturing are critical to ensure that plug-in vehicles are economically viable as well as making sure that America doesn’t trade foreign oil dependency for foreign battery dependency. Currently, the majority of batteries for electric and plug-in vehicles are being sourced from overseas, mainly Japan.”
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Once again, where is the biz plan that is such an obvious winner yet can't get investors?
The NiMh battery issue was resolved in 2004: http://www.ovonic.com/PDFs/Financial_Reports/form_8k/8k_mbi_patent_infringe_settlement_7july04.pdf June 30 2010 is the end date of Ovionic patent control. $20 million settlement with $8 million to Chevron isn't exactly captive oil company control. Indiana doesn't have much of a track record on Green with a stumbling barely alive ethanol inititative. Turned out that costs to gas station owners was substantial to install E85 tanks and pumps. Then there is the consumer issue of vehicles to use E85 and lousy mpg.