The Japanese car manufacturer Nissan aims to mass produce electric cars by 2012 with an emphasis on affordability.

It will be releasing its first electric car in Japen later this summer, and in the USA in 2010. The target date for global mass production is 2012.

Nissan is Japan's third biggest car maker. Their EV prototype is discussed in more detail here.

The race is clearly on to produce fully electric cars for the mass market, with Tesla, Toyota and China's Dongfeng Motor Corp all pushing ahead with plans.

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Really, you've gotta read Michael Moore's eulogy for General Motors in the Huffington Post.

My favorite bit: "Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes."

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The Obama Administration is set to propose tougher national tailpipe emissions standards that would meet the standards of California, the most stringent state regulations.  The proposed regulations would be the first national greenhouse gas regulations and will affect all consumer automobiles sold in the US.  The cost of an average car or truck is expected to rise about $1300; lower fuel costs should make up for the increase.

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"Too big to fail" has become an acronym and so part of the cultural lexicon. Can we at least stop it being a permanent feature of the economic system?

Scholars from the Brookings Institution argue that actually many supposedly TBTF institutions could in fact be allowed to fail without serious economic repercussions. What is needed is a commitment not to bail them out.

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Adrianne Appel of the IPS provides some analysis of the environmental and labor significance of the Chrysler salvation deal struck last week.

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The American Lung Association has released its 10th Anniversary report on the state of the air Americans breathe, and it ain't pretty.  According to the study, 58% of Americans live with unacceptable levels of ozone pollution, and 15% live with elevated levels of "particle pollution"--that's dirt in the air.  Time has a quick breakdown of the nation's dirtiest, and cleanest, cities.

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If the United Auto Workers union will soon control Chrysler by means of a 55% stake, could this lead to more productive industrial relations?

Getting concessions out of Detroit's unionists has always been a struggle, and management are no wimps. From afar I get the impression of two hardened wrestlers battling it out. The loser, of course, is the whole company. Both sides become intransigent. Innovation suffers. Crises that could have been averted are instead exacerbated.

Now the workers - or at least their organized representatives which is far from the same thing - will be in control of their own destiny. Could this mark the start of a turnaround?

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John Viera, Ford's Director of Sustainable Business Strategies, explained the company's approach to the low carbon challenge to GreenBiz.

The strategy appears to be two pronged: a modular, flexible approach to car specifications and production to tailor cars to the fuel efficiency solutions available in the local market; and a new technology called EcoBoost with which some 90% of new Ford cars will be equipped by 2013. The technology reduces fuel consumption by 10% to 20%.

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A tentative deal has been struck between the United Auto Workers union and carmakers that revises a 2007 collective bargaining agreement.

The agreement remains subject to ratification by members, but could pave the way for Chrysler's survival.

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The Capital Eye blog at OpenSecrets.org sets out links to information showing which sectors have paid how much money to which political campaigns.

The blog explains that it is difficult to fully understand this week's hearings on climate change in the US Congress without this data, including:

• "Overviews of federal campaign contributions by the energy sector over time. This breaks down into contributions from electric utilities, the mining industry and oil and gas companies. Automakers and the agriculture sector, among others, will also likely want to offer input as energy-related legislation moves forward. And, of course, we can't forget the environmentalists and alternative energy producers, who now appear to have a more prominent seat at the table.
• These industries also try to peddle influence by lobbying the federal government. Take a look at how much the energy sector, electric utilities, the mining industry and oil and gas companies spent on lobbying in 2008. For automakers, go here; for the agriculture sector, go here; and for environmental groups, go here.
• How much have individual members of Congress received from these industries? OpenSecrets.org can show you: energy sector, electric utilities, mining industry, oil and gas companies, automakers, agriculture, environmentalists and alternative energy producers. Play around with the dropdowns and slider menu to change the timeframe or see totals to specific members of the House and Senate. 
• Check out which industries gave the most to members of the various 110th energy-related committees (111th coming soon) by going here and selecting any of the following: House Energy and Commerce Committee; House Select Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee; House Science Committee; Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
• House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.) penned the cap-and-trade global warming bill before their committee this week. Take a look at their individual profiles to see where these two are getting their money, here for Waxman and here for Markey.
• For a look at how the various industries tried to influence energy-related legislation in the past, take a peek at Capital Eye's 2008 Power Struggle series and 2007 Power Play series."

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