~ News Advisory ~
What: Electric Car Press Conference
When: Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 10:00
AM
Where: LA Auto Show @LA Convention
Center – Pavilion adjacent to West Entrance
Who: Hon. Nate Holden, Ret. LA City
Councilman & Calif. State Senator
Contact Info: Alex Datig at 213.466.2980
or [email protected]
Los Angeles – November 18, 2008 -- Former California State Senator and Los Angeles
City Councilman Nate Holden is holding a news conference, speaking out against American auto manufacturers and
in support of mass-production of the electric car. The Honorable Nate Holden believes that the taxpayers should
not bailout the auto manufacturers without The Big Three agreeing to mass-produce the electric car as an incentive.
Nate Holden states the following points:
- In 1990, the State of California enacted a zero-emissions mandate, forcing auto
manufacturers who sold their cars in the State of California to require that at least 10% of the automobiles that
are sold here have zero-emissions.
- In 2002 the Bush administration sided with the automakers to fight the zero-emissions
mandate. The Bush administration, General Motors, other U.S. automakers and the oil companies committed sabotage
against the American people and the environment. Because of the lawsuit, California will not make any strides in
improving our air quality. To continue to build internal combustion engines will result in more photochemical smog
and will cause more lung cancer and respiratory disease.
- At about that time, General Motors embarked on a program to deceive the public
and the lawmakers. They introduced the EV1 as a revolutionary concept car. The EV1 had all the whistles and bells
and if mass-produced, could have saved the automobile industry from its financial woes. At the beginning, General
Motors and the other auto manufacturers never intended for the electric vehicle to be a successful program, specifically
the EV1.
- It turned out to be nothing but a hoax when General Motors built 1,100 EV1s and
allowed the public to lease and road test them. Without a doubt, the EV1, as a prototype vehicle, met the test
acceptance program. In fact, in many circles there are those who are of the opinion that it exceeded the testing
program. The consumers who leased the EV1 offered to purchase the EV1 vehicle from General Motors. They knew the
EV1 was a zero-emission, cost effective automobile. General Motors said "no" and evoked the terms and
conditions of the lease requiring that those vehicles be returned to General Motors and they were subsequently
destroyed.
- General Motors has had at least ten years notice to develop and mass-produce an
electric vehicle and they have failed to do so. They have continuously brainwashed the public and the elected officials,
claiming that they were on our side and they are not! Here they are again, demanding that the hard-working taxpayers
bail them out. (Them being the automobile manufacturers) They are demanding the bailout funding without any pre-conditions.
Shame on them!
- Congress should not give auto manufacturers another dime until the commitment is
made that they will build the electric vehicle as a top priority. We must stop importing our oil from the Middle
East. The mass production of the electric vehicle can be our way of achieving that goal.
Nate Holden served four terms on the Los
Angeles City Council (1987 to 2003). He served as Chairman of the Air Quality
and Waste Management Committee and eight years as the Chairman of the Transportation Committee. Holden served as
Chairman of the Inter-Government Relations Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Public Safety Committee. Holden also
served as a Vice-Chairman of the Rapid Transit District (RTD), a member of the LA County Transportation Committee
(LACTC), and as a member of the LA Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA).
Holden previously served four years as a California State Senator where he authored and co-authored
more than 70 bills that became law. While in the Senate, he served as Vice-Chairman of the very important Public
Utilities Transit and Energy Committee.
Prior to that, Holden served as Assistant Chief Deputy to then Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn for 12 years.
Holden spent 17 years in the aerospace industry where he was assigned to innovative
projects, including the Surveyor Lunar Landing spacecraft mission.
Mr. Holden is retired from public office and is now a consultant, specializing in
government affairs.
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