Joe Has Lobbyists to Tell Him What His Opinion Is

Joe Knollenberg's Chief of Staff -- who also happens to be a Washington DC LOBBYIST -- said that raising fuel economy standards for automobiles would "be the death knell for the domestic auto industry". [Oakland Press, 4/3/07]

Funny thing though, the auto industry doesn't agree with him. Earlier this week, the major trade group for the Auto industry, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, was advocating that both cars and manufacturing plants reduce emissions of air pollutants like CO2 that cause global warming.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group representing General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG, Toyota Motor Corp. and five others, said in a statement that "there needs to be a national, federal, economy-wide approach to addressing greenhouse gases."

Knollenberg's Positions Are Defined By Lobbyists
This week, Lobbyist Wisecup said:

CAFE (Corporate Average Funeral Economy) mandates would cost the Big Three $85 billion at a minimum, Wisecup said.

But less than 3 years ago he said:

President George W. Bush has proposed CAFE reforms based
on recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, which would increase fuel efficiency without a negative impact on the U.S. automobile industry.

How could CAFE be a "death knell" today when just a few years ago it could have been implemented "without a negative impact"? Seems Joe just needed a phony crisis to harp on.

Knollenberg's Position is Whatever Lobbyists Tell Him It Is.