Let's Get Technical

摘要

Engineers are natural allies of environmentalists. We point out problems in the world; engineers solve them—at least when they're allowed to. A good example is the 2002 Detroit Auto Show, where the Sierra Club unveiled the "Freedom Package," a set of proven technologies that could dramatically improve the fuel efficiency of every non-hybrid motor vehicle sold today. I later learned from a vice president at Ford that some bright, young engineers in the audience came back fired up, saying: "We have those technologies. Let's use them; let's use them big." It didn't happen. At a time of record gas prices, Detroit has ceded the high-efficiency automobile market to Japan and Germany. (The only exception is the Ford Escape, which is based on technology licensed from Toyota.) Had Detroit listened to its young engineers, this spring might not have seen record sales for Toyota and Nissan, and junk status for Ford and GM's debt.