From Detroit Free Press

DETROIT - The green movement will gain even more steam in the next few years as the United States tries to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and cut carbon dioxide emissions, a panel of auto executives and environmental experts agreed Tuesday at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit .

The push for change took place more quickly in the past year than most industry experts anticipated, said Roland Hwang, vehicle policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group headquartered in New York .

Both the Democratic-controlled Congress and Republican White House lined up behind efforts to raise fuel-efficiency standards as gas prices rose and global warming became a high-profile issue, Hwang said.

The auto industry, betting against dramatic change, missed a chance to influence legislation and possibly get financial incentives to make the transition, he said. With a new round of environmental and energy legislation coming, Hwang urged the auto industry to take a more active step.

"The auto industry needs to be at the table now," Hwang said.

General Motors Corp. sees the quickening pace of change, said Byron McCormick, GM Powertrain executive director of fuel cell vehicles.

"This is the beginning of something, not the end of something," McCormick said.

Addressing the challenge, though, will take partnerships among automakers, energy firms and governments around the world, he said. To make an impact, these groups must coordinate approaches and come up with an overarching plan, he said.

"We're talking about turning over the entire energy base and the entire transportation base of the developed world and putting into place the right policies and the right approach for the developing world," McCormick said.

The green movement also presents conflicting issues, said Bill Reinert, national manager for the advanced technology group at Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales arm. Making the United States less dependent on foreign oil and reducing carbon dioxide emissions may be difficult to do at the same time, he said.

North America , for example, could import less oil by more aggressively drilling for oil in Canada , but that could upset environmentalists, Reinert said. Planting a special grass to make more ethanol also could help, but that could drain water resources, he said.

Automakers are devising technologies to raise fuel economy, but a system-wide approach must be used to make the best decisions, he said.

"If we do a plug-in hybrid and we're burning coal to create the electricity, we've not reduced emissions," he said. "We've just moved them to a different spot."

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(c) 2008, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.