environmentalists and union autoworkers, could be butting heads over an auto industry bailout and the aim to manufacture energy-efficient cars. According to an Associated Press analysis:The United Auto Workers, along with Detroit's Big Three, are pushing for an infusion of emergency loans for the carmakers' immediate needs—even if that means diverting $25 billion that had been set aside for creating cleaner vehicles. Environmentalists balk at that notion, saying the money is sacrosanct and insisting that any new help be tied to strict requirements for greener cars.Unions provided far more financial support to Obama and Democratic candidates than environmental organizations—more than 20 times as much in the last election, the AP reports, citing the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign finance research organization. Still, the AP says, environmental groups enjoy powerful allies in the Democratic Party—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prominent among them—and exert a strong pull in policy debates.
"It is a challenge, because here you have the union core group that supports the Democratic Party and was very strong supporting Obama's candidacy, and you have environmental groups who also are very strong in the Democratic Party, and when it comes to autos, those two constituencies conflict with each other," Richard Hurd, a Cornell University labor relations professor, tells the news agency.
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