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We all want better fuel economy. Forcing the issue, however, means government mandates and, if we don't know it by now from other federally "required" programs, government intervention means increased costs and unreal paperwork for businesses already struggling to compete in a global market.

Since US manufacturers pay workers better (and should continue to do so) they already have one handicap to overcome. This isn't the topic of this discussion, but drastically cutting CEO and top management salaries to reasonable levels would do a whole lot to help bridge that wage gap. But we don't need to add government bureaucracy to the mix and make expenses higher.

Can U.S. car manufacturers increase the fuel economy of the vehicles they produce? Of course they can since other countries are producing high efficiency vehicles on a regular basis. And if U.S. manufacturers want Americans to buy American, they will have to produce more fuel efficient vehicles or they will continue to lose sales.

Part of the problem is "us" -the consumer. Even with gasoline prices skyrocketing, Americans are fighting hard not to change their driving habits. Mostly, we still drive when we want to drive. Our cities and states need to subsidize more public transportation, for sure, especially outside metropolitan areas. But we honestly do need to check out carpooling...and walking...a lot more closely on an individual basis.

More importantly, Americans drive what they very seldom need to drive. At this point in time it looks like American consumers will fight hard before giving up the "soccer-mom" vans or the "big truck" thing even when people don't need any truck, let alone an extended-cab or huge-tire "cool" truck. The truly energy conscious truck owner keeps a small truck if he/she only hauls occasionally, but does need one. Businesses, of course, need trucks to do whatever their job load requires, and businesses are usually all too willing to buy exactly what they need and only what they need. So far as I know there is no reason to own a huge truck with gigantic tires that serves no function other than soothing the owner's ego. I've seen some of these with beds so clean that nothing has ever been allowed in the bed, let alone allowed to be "trucked." Yet some of these people complain the most about energy costs. Hey, guys, even those big tires add to your gas consumption-you want them, you pay at the pump.

Sportsmen will not trade down to anything but a gas-guzzling ATV, although the sportsmen

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