The company behind the revolutionary Prius is trying to move America backward on gas mileage.
[EDITOR'S NOTE 12/07: After receiving more than 100,000 messages from Prius owners and other concerned citizens, Toyota shifted its stance and voiced support for the strong fuel economy standards in the energy bill passed by Congress.]
For several years the Toyota Prius has been the car of choice among environmentally conscious consumers, and has helped add more than a touch of green to the company's reputation. Toyota was miles ahead of other car companies when it introduced the Prius hybrid, which combines outstanding gas mileage with style and comfort -- a feat that Big Auto insisted couldn't be achieved. So Prius fans might be surprised to learn that Toyota is trying to move America backward on fuel economy.
Congress is negotiating an energy bill that could raise the fuel economy standard to 35 miles per gallon, a move that would save America 1.2 million barrels of oil each day by 2020 -- more than we import from Saudi Arabia. But Toyota has joined forces with General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and other automakers in an attempt to derail what would be the first improvement in fuel economy standards in nearly 20 years.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers -- the powerful lobbying group that includes Toyota -- is fighting against the strongest fuel economy standards under consideration by Congress, insisting that a 35 mpg average for cars and trucks is "unattainable." Instead, Toyota and other automakers support a much weaker industry-written bill that simply would not do enough to break America's addiction to oil.
Why is Toyota, a company that can make a car that gets 55 miles per gallon today, fighting a 35 mpg standard? If Toyota's "Moving Forward" motto is more than just empty words, the company must support a sensible increase in fuel economy to 35 mpg by 2020. It's time for Prius and other hybrid owners -- and for all of us who care about oil independence, global warming and air pollution -- to tell Toyota to stop trying to shift America's efforts to break its oil dependency into reverse.