Transportation: Toyota Dishonest In Gas Pedal Investigation, Government Says
• "Toyota Motor Corp. released misleading information about an investigation into problems with stuck gas pedals that led to a massive Toyota recall, the government said Wednesday, stressing the issue is still under review by federal safety regulators," AP reports. "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was still investigating the case and meeting with Toyota to hear about the company's plan to redesign the vehicles and fix 'this very dangerous problem.'"
• Toyota "posted a surprise quarterly profit on Thursday and became the latest Japanese auto maker to offer an improved outlook for the rest of the year, as cost-cutting and government car-buying incentives look to lift its prospects after nine months of losses," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "But the recovery at the world's No. 1 auto maker by sales volume appears to be trailing those of rivals Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., and the company still expects to report more than $2 billion in losses this fiscal year."
NOTE: This week's discussion is taking place in conjunction with NationalJournal.com's Energy & Environment expert blog. Responses should be made there.
How can Washington regulate and reduce the transportation sector's oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions? What are the appropriate roles and responsibilities for the Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency? How should those roles be incorporated into the climate change legislation and surface transportation reauthorization that Congress is expected to tackle?
-- Lisa Caruso and Margaret Kriz, NationalJournal.com
