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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > May > 14
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Brown furious about reports that GM will export from China
An Associated Press report that General MOtors may begin to export vehicles from China starting in 2011 has Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, furious, particularly because the company has accepted U.S. taxpayer dollars in an effort to stay afloat.
“What’s good for GM is no longer good for America,” Brown said in a statement Thursday, May 14. “This idea is a slap in the face to American auto workers and American taxpayers. If officials at General Motors think that U.S. taxpayers will finance cars made in China while American plants are closing, they’re either tone deaf or short-sighted.
Brown said there is “no excuse” for GM to use taxpayer funds for Chinese imports - “not when there are American workers ready to build these cars and idled U.S. auto plants prepared to produce them.”
“These funds are meant to help rebuild our nation’s middle class, not dismantle it by shipping more jobs overseas. GM must commit to using them to maintain jobs and production at home.”
An AP report said GM plans to begin exports of vehicles made in China to the United States within two years, with the goal of bringing sales to more than 50,000 by 2014. A spokeswoman for GM in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports, which were said to be based on a company recovery plan given to U.S. lawmakers.
The company is currently surviving largely because of $15.4 billion worth of loans from the U.S. government.
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Voino, Brown sewer bill passes committee
Sens. George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown’s bill aimed at giving $1.8 billion over five years to communities who want to get rid of their outdated combined sewer overflow systems passed through a Senate committee Thursday, May 14, putting the bill one step closer to Senate passage.
The bill aims to take some of the heat off communities required update their sewers by federal environmental standards who can’t afford the costly upgrades. Their bill, a grant program, would provide a 75-25 cost share for municipalities to use for planning, design, and construction of treatment works to control combined and sanitary sewer overflows.
Eighty-six Ohio communities, including Springfield, have combined sewage systems, which can put human waste in storm water drains during excessive rain. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 850 billion gallons of untreated wastewater and storm water are released through combined sewer each year in the United States. The EPA estimates that communities across the nation have about $50 billion in need for combined sewer renovations.
Voinovich is an Ohio Republican. Brown is an Ohio Democrat. The bill now must be approved by the U.S. Senate, as well as the House of Representatives, before going to President Obama.
