Detroit CEOs meet with President Bush, discuss energy concerns
Since lunch with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn’t kill him, President Bush cozied up to another foe: the Big Three automakers. Yesterday, Bush met with the CEOs of Ford, GM, and the Chrysler Group, a trio he ruffled earlier this year by saying they’d improve financially if they made “relevant” products. Eager to show their relevance, the three pledged that, with Washington’s help, they could make half their annual vehicle production biofuels-ready by 2012. The meeting — attended by a startling number of bigwigs, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson — also addressed fuel efficiency, health-care costs, and trade concerns (yeah, Japan, they’re talkin’ to you). It was also to be a PR blitz, with at least two hybrids on display at the White House. But construction and attendees’ cars apparently blocked the route to waiting cameras, leaving the hybrids unadmired — and leaving us truly inspired about the industry’s ability to surmount any obstacle.
