At GM plant, McCain calls for an electric vehicle tax credit
Warren, Mich. -- John McCain today called for a tax credit to help American consumers buy electrically powered automobiles as part of an effort to decrease the country's dependence on foreign oil.
Speaking to General Motors workers after company officials gave him a tour of the design room for the prototype Chevy Volt, the Republican presidential candidate noted that a barrier to the widespread use of electric cars is their exorbitant cost.
"I don't know if you remember, but the first cellphone cost $1,000," he told a crowd of several hundred workers in a showroom at the GM Technical Center here.
"I would support tax credits for Americans who choose to buy the Volt and other automobiles that put us on the track to energy independence," McCain said. He later said the credit would be worth $5,000.
He called the project an "integral part of our ability to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil."
During the GOP primaries, McCain had warned displaced auto workers in this economically devastated state that their old jobs "aren't coming back." Today, he tried to inject a note of hope into that assessment.
"This new technology, this incredible breakthrough, will create hundreds of thousands of jobs," he said.
McCain said he favored federal support for research and development of battery-powered cars, and that he believed states should be able to set their own fuel economy standards -- a stance that disappointed some of the crowd.
McCain -- who reaffirmed his belief in human-caused climate change -- also called for all American-made cars to be built to accommodate alternative fuels, such as the increasingly popular E85 ethanol blend.
He also called for the lifting of the federal moratorium on offshore oil exploration, but said that would only be a short-term solution to the energy crisis. "The answer is wind, tide and solar," he said.
In response to a question about the housing crisis, McCain said homeowners should be able to obtain new mortgages at the current value of their home. He has proposed the federal government cover the difference.
"The values of homes in Michigan and across this country have dropped dramatically, and you ought to be able to be making payments at the new value of your home," he said.
McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama, has no public schedule today.
nicholas.riccardi@latimes.com
