Michigan Residents Agree With The Rest Of The Country In 40 Mpg Standard

Surveys in the United States shows strong support to the standard gas mileage rating of 40 miles per gallon. And recently, the residents of Michigan, where the big three car manufacturers are located, showed that they agree with the rest of the country. Residents cited that US car makers should take measures to increase fuel efficiency and address the global warming issue. This is the result of the poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the Civil Society Institute (CSI).

Of the polled respondents in the state, 67 percent of the households which are dependent on the auto industry said that the government can help US automakers be more competitive by increasing the federal fuel-efficiency standard to 40 miles per gallon. While 72 percent of the polled respondents who do not depend on the auto industry in the state said that they agree with the aforementioned statement.

In terms of how Michiganders look at the present status of the auto industry, the study found out that 84 percent of polled respondents with no connection to the automotive industry said that the US auto industry is in major trouble and Michigans economy will suffer seriously if the situation of the Big Three gets even worse. Meanwhile, 89 percent of those polled residents, which are linked directly or indirectly to the automotive industry, have said that the industry is in big trouble. Only 11 percent of the questioned Michiganders said that despite current problems in the US auto industry, Michigans economy is unlikely to suffer very much since the Big Three automakers have a good plan for moving ahead.

The study also found out that 82 percent of the respondents in the study said that they agree that we need higher federal fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles now in order to conserve more energy, making us less dependent on Middle Eastern oil, and to reduce the ill effects of global warming. Meanwhile, more than half of the polled Michiganders said that they strongly agree with that statement.

This survey should be a real wake-up call to Michigans state and federal lawmakers who may mistakenly think that the state residents are somehow less likely than others in the U.S. to support higher furl efficiency standard and other auto-related curbs on global warming, says Pam Solo, the President of the Civil Society Institute. In fact, autoworkers in Michigan and other state residents are right in the same page as other Americans who know that 40 mpg fuel-efficiency standard makes sense because the technology already exists, it is needed to strengthen our national security, and it is good for the environment, Polo added.

As for Graham Hueber, the Senior Research Associate for ORC, he said that: The vast majority of Michigan residentsincluding auto industry workers and employees of non-auto companies that are linked to the fate of Detroit car makers support a 40 mile per gallon federal fuel efficiency standard and are not content with industry and Congressional inaction on fuel-efficiency and global warming issues. For example, more than three out of four Michigan residents agree that President Bush and Congress should increase the federal fuel-efficiency standard now to 40 miles per gallon. No meaningful variation of support was seen between Michigan autoworker households and those in the state without ties to the car industry.

The result of the survey shows that even Michigan residents are not contented with just using aftermarket parts like Pontiac cold air intake system to increase the fuel efficiency of their vehicles. This is a challenge for U.S. automakers to improve the design of their engines and vehicles as a whole.