CAGW Praises Detroit's Electric-Fuel Hybrid Vehicles

                      Markets, Not Government Subsidies,
                  Are Best for Taxpayers and the Environment

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2003; Citizens Against Government Waste
(CAGW) today praised the unveiling of a line of electric-fuel hybrid vehicles
at the annual Detroit Auto Show.  Noting that government subsidies and
mandates in hybrid technology have often impeded the free market and wasted
billions of dollars, the taxpayer group pointed out that now the private
sector is pursuing the energy-saving technology on its own.
    "This breakthrough is a victory for taxpayers, the environment, and the
U.S. economy," CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "Hybrid automobiles will
compete with fossil-fuel vehicles in cost, reliability, and power, which will
have transformative effects on the world.  It also helps prove that markets
are more efficient and ultimately more environmentally friendly than big-
government subsidy programs and ideologically-motivated environmental
regulations."
    "Last year, the federal government finally realized it had poured $1.5
billion down a rat hole in funding the Al Gore 'Supercar' program in pursuit
of an 80-mile-per-gallon vehicle," Schatz also said.  "And Congress defeated a
massive increase in fuel efficiency regulations that was already costing
consumers, including the government itself, up to $2,750 per vehicle.  Today
that progress toward eliminating government-subsidized environmental programs
continued, as General Motors chose on its own to field a line of at least a
dozen hybrid vehicles of all sizes over the next five years."
    "This announcement is proof the private sector can resolve efficiency
issues without the creation of new regulations at the state or federal level,
and the bureaucracies that follow such measures," Schatz concluded.  "It also
shows that tax credits like the $2,000 per alternative-fuel vehicle that the
federal government currently provides work better than mandates or wasteful
government spending."

    Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization
dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.