124
Eric Cox
certainty about automobiles’ part in air pollution and the perceived unreasonable costs of regulation. Direct lobbying is the preferred strategy for American auto companies when they wish to combat new regulations in the industry. Many questions arise from the academic literature. Do present conditions favor one strategy over another for environmental groups (lobbying vs. education vs. direct action)? Is public opinion sufficiently mobilized against the typical arguments of the auto industry? Is there a point where people become frustrated with the auto industry’s lack of innovation and favor regulation in order to reap the collective benefit of clean air? Air pollution policy is heavily dependent on public opinion, so any analysis must consider this. Understanding the strategies of environmental interest groups and automotive industry interests should provide a solid basis from which we can form a game theoretic model for explaining behavior. Methodology In order to formulate an accurate game-theoretic model of the relationship between environmental interest groups and the automotive industry, we must understand the players and their preferences. The Sierra Club, the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), and 40MPG are three groups that try to influence federal air pollution policy through vehicle emissions standards. The Sierra Club is one of the oldest, most prominent and influential environmental interest groups in America. The NRDC is a non-profit, non-partisan group that focuses on litigation and education campaigns to spread their message. 40MPG is a subsidiary group of the Civil Society Institute, which mainly uses press releases to educate the public about the issue of fuel efficiency. These three groups are all prominent actors in the area of environmental policy. The Sierra Club, NRDC and 40MPG and other similar groups have made significant attempts to increase the regulation of greenhouse gases from commuter vehicles. For example, a coalition led by the NRDC and the Sierra Club pressured the Obama administration to require 60 mpg standards by 2025 (Crawley 2010). Whereas these two groups function more as blanket organizations, 40MPG is devoted specifically to increasing pollution regulations on passenger vehicles through public appeals. In late 2008, 40MPG urged its members to contact members of Congress in support of a Green Auto Bailout, which would require auto manufacturers to research fuel-efficient technologies and drop lawsuits against states with higher emissions standards in exchange for bailout money(Cox 2008). These groups are primarily concerned with minimizing the effects of global warming by regulating products from the auto industry. They attempt to achieve this goal by researching new tech-