Why It Matters That Kuwait Controls Daimler-Chrysler

Washington, D.C. -- America is finally waking up to the fact that our addiction to oil is a serious foreign policy threat. I'm testifying tomorrow at the first hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on Global Warming; the topic is the "Geopolitical Implications of Rising Oil Dependence and Global Warming." The other witnesses include former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, and Gen. Gordon Sullivan. Meanwhile, a second panel of Defense Department consultants issued a report this week saying that global warming is a serious national-security threat.

You might think that by this point American industry would be rallying around any opportunity help make America safer. Unfortunately, although many companies are rallying, some are still resisting. While CONOCO Phillips has become the first oil company to call for serious action, no auto company has yet joined it. In fact, even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. government had a legal obligation under the Clean Air Act to limit global-warming pollution, General Motors is still pursuing a case in Vermont designed to prevent the states from doing so on their own. Oddly, GM has been joined by Daimler-Chrysler. Daimler, of course, plans to sell Chrysler and, because of the nature of its vehicles, the clean-car standards at issue in Vermont really won't affect the company at all. So why is the Stuttgart firm fighting a rear-guard action against U.S. action on global warming, especially when Europe has already stepped up to the plate?

Well, one reason emerged during the court hearing in Vermont. Who owns the automaker? The controlling interest, it turns out, is exercised by the largest single shareholder -- the Government of Kuwait! So perhaps it is not so surprising that the auto industry has not been eager to help the U.S. kick its addiction to Persian Gulf Oil -- it is in part a subsidiary of Persian Gulf Oil.