The Detroit News reported that a new set of advertisements attacking Detroit car makers for failing to deliver more fuel-efficient vehicles is sure to revive the debate over fuel economy and national security. The television commercials, beginning May 7 in Detroit and seven other US cities, argue that the vehicle industry's failure to produce a 40 mpg SUV has increased American dependence on foreign oil, the paper said. The Detroit News said the campaign is the latest move in an increasingly media-oriented drive by environmental and religious groups to change the politics of fuel economy. The Detroit News said the new ads are sponsored by Huffington's Detroit Project and the Natural Resources Defence Council. They are a parody of car ads, highlighting features the groups say vehicle makers won't put into cars on the market. "Detroit should be able to put on the road any kind of car the consumer wants and make it fuel efficient," Huffington told the Detroit News. According to the paper, the groups said they were airing the ads to spur lawmakers in Washington to include a fuel economy provision in an energy bill the Senate is debating this week. Eron Shosteck, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told the Detroit News the ads ignore the fact that vehicle makers already offer models with high fuel economy.
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