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" It might be hard for some people to comprehend but there is at least one Republican Member of Congress who owns a Fisker Karma and believes in the future of electric cars. Yesterday, I attended a luncheon organized by the Motor Press Guild in Los Angeles and the speaker was John Campbell, Member of Congress for the 48th District in California. For those who don&amp;#039;t know, that&amp;#039;s a conservative enclave in Orange County. John Campbell is a car guy \u2013 he used to own several car dealerships and currently owns 20 cars including five Ferraris and five Corvettes. &amp;quot;I own one of each Corvette generation except the C5 \u2013 I don&amp;#039;t like that one,&amp;quot; he tells an audience of journalists and car industry types. He tells us how the atmosphere in Washington is really bad as everyone is posturing for the election. He says that, whoever wins, things will have to get done next year since nothing is getting done now. Wisely, Campbell did not stray from talking about cars and policies that affect car enthusiasts. He&amp;#039;s in favor of developing more sources of oil and natural gas so the U.S. can lessen its dependence on foreign oil. He&amp;#039;s in favor of the Keystone Pipeline and against pushing the use of ethanol too hard. Yet he is also in favor of developing alternative fuels and different forms of propulsion. He&amp;#039;s concerned that roads are not being maintained properly because the tax revenue is declining due to improved fuel economy. He thinks CAFE is wrong and he&amp;#039;s against subsidizing specific technologies with taxes. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m tired of the judging going on on both sides,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;We should not be subsidizing nor should we be complaining.&amp;quot; Did he vote for the auto bailout? He abstained from voting because he felt his industry ties caused a conflict of interest. However, he voted for TARP, as he says the country was in dire financial straits in the fall of 2008. He reckons the U.S. would have fallen into a depression far worse than the Great Depression in the 1930s if TARP had not passed. Campbell is in favor of tough emission laws as he sees them being of benefit to everyone. He grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and suffered as a child from the smog so he has experienced the benefits first hand. Campbell has introduced a bill, H.R. 3274, in Congress that will lower the regulatory burden on small auto manufacturers that only produce 1000 or less cars a year. He feels it will encourage exciting new developments and allow specialized cars to get off the ground without being burdened by some of the high costs currently required to meet standards. What does he drive when he&amp;#039;s in Washington? He has used his Ferrari California at times in the past but right now he&amp;#039;s thinking about buying a Chevrolet Volt to drive around the nation&amp;#039;s capital. He was a big supporter of the EV-1 when he was a dealer and also likes the Volt and is upset by all the negative jabs it&amp;#039;s getting from certain quarters. Whatever your political persuasion, John Campbell is a car guy \u2013 and he also happens to be a member of the U.S. Congress. . Related posts:  Fisker Karma Uses Low Carbon Leather Fisker Karma Plug-In Hybrid Headed to China Updated: CEC Fisker Karma \u2013 2011 SEMA Show  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a21711/republican-congressman-drives-a-fisker-karma-33737/>