Panelists: U.S. entering green-technology race
By Leslie J. Allen, Automotive News
January 28, 2008
DETROIT --
The United States is on the verge of a green technology race that will rival the space race of the 1950s and 1960s, a panel of experts said. But if the nation fails to act quickly, it risks losing a leadership role.
Fuel-economy legislation is sparking the race, Dean Harlow, president of engineering firm Ricardo Inc., said last week at the Automotive News World Congress.
``Just as Kennedy pushed NASA to the moon in a decade, Washington has now thrown down the gauntlet for the auto industry,'' said Harlow. He was a member of a panel discussing the risks and opportunities of ``green technologies.''
``We're in a race for eco-innovation,'' he said.
But without more investment, alternative vehicle technologies and development of hydrogen-powered cars will leave the United States, the head of General Motors' fuel cell activities warned.
Other countries are investing heavily in green technologies and could surpass the United States, GM scientist Byron McCormick said. ``There is a real chance that could happen. If that happens, what happens to the jobs, to the learning and the skills that go with it?''
McCormick said the United States has a technology momentum in the field. ``We have a wonderful opportunity to put the United States in a leadership position.''
He is the executive director of GM Powertrain's fuel cell activities.
McCormick identified Germany, China and Japan as countries that are poised to benefit. They could gain the infrastructure that comes with global leadership in alternative vehicle technologies.
``There are a number of regions getting their act together,'' he said, ``I would hate as a U.S. citizen and taxpayer to have the United States become complacent.''
Government must act
Mary Ann Wright, CEO of Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions, said the government must do more to support university engineering programs to make them appeal to students.
``We have to put the `sexy' back into technology,'' she said.
Wright also called for the government to put policies in place that encourage manufacturers to keep their plants in the United States.
If that doesn't happen, she said, the nation may have to import high-technology components and hire engineers educated in other countries to keep pace with legislation that is driving the development of low-emission, fuel-saving future automotive powertrains.
U.S. automakers and suppliers could get up to $40 billion over 20 years from the federal government to retool assembly plants through a bipartisan bill recently passed by a Senate committee.
Get a piece of the pie
America's Climate Security Act of 2007 is the industry's best bet to get significant funding for green technology, Roland Hwang, vehicles policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said.
``If this industry - Detroit and its allies - plays its cards right, I believe that Washington will provide you with the kind of assistance that would be very helpful for you to make this transition to a world where you have to build cars that reflect the reality of global warming,'' Hwang said.
As the number of vehicles on the road worldwide increases and energy supplies dwindle, Congress will make energy security a higher priority than resolving climate concerns, said Bill Reinert, national manager of advanced technology group for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Decreased water supplies will outweigh climate change issues as well, he said.
``I think that's going to be the focus of Congress,'' Reinert said. ``Unfortunately, it's going to fight for shelf space with climate solutions, and I believe given the state of Congress that energy security will win.''
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