Kelly’s disconnect

The PG should fire Jack Kelly as a columnist. His pieces are full of inaccuracies, exaggerations, misleading statements and right-wing fear-mongering. They do a disservice to the PG and its readers. A case in point is his column "Fuel Policy Is Foolish" (May 24). He speculates that President Barack Obama's proposed fuel efficiency standards (e.g. 39 mpg combined city/highway driving by 2016) will cause cars to be more expensive, smaller and less comfortable. The Toyota Prius demonstrates Kelly's disconnect with reality.

The Prius is a roomy, five-passenger car with 16.2 cubic feet of cargo space. My Prius achieved a carefully measured overall 44.5 mpg in Pittsburgh driving over the past three years, well exceeding the proposed standard. In addition, a well-respected consumer magazine consistently rates the Prius as the least expensive car in its class to own (total cost over five years) and highest of all vehicles in owner satisfaction. The Ford Fusion hybrid already meets the standards, and plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars will soon be available.

Concerning safety, I have avoided crashes in my nimble Prius that certainly would have occurred if I were driving one of the lumbering behemoths that Mr. Kelly states Americans will demand in 2016. Extending Mr. Kelly's crash safety logic, we would all be driving Sherman tanks.

Mr. Kelly sells American ingenuity short with his misinformed statements about efficiency standards. The PG should carry columnists aware of the present and not those mired in the 1990s.

 

 

WALTER MASTROPAOLO

Mt. Lebanon