EPA, Inc.

摘要

From a carmaker's perspective, the environ-mental Protection Agency is in the business of creating problems, not solving them. Example: looming EPA regulations will impose some of the world's most stringent auto emission levels by 2010. Today's diesel engines are a long way from meeting these new rules. Imagine the surprise, then, when the EPA announced in January that it had developed a prototype diesel engine that would meet clean-air requirements. The engine was invented by 20-odd EPA staffers in Ann Arbor, Mich. It's so promising that Ford Motor will license it. The EPA's annual advanced technology budget: $12 million. Ford's yearly budget for research, development and engineering: $7.5 billion.