Survey To Show Americans Want President, Congress To Push Detroit For More Fuel-Efficient Vehicles

Will Detroit Blow It Again with SUVs and Trucks? With Nearly All Americans

Expecting Gas Prices to Soon Soar High Again, No Drop Seen in Demand for Highly Fuel-Efficient Vehicles

As Washington continues to jawbone with Detroit's Big 3 automakers, Americans have strikingly strong and bipartisan views about the steps -- including the imposition of a 40 mpg federal fuel-efficiency standard -- that President Bush and the new Congress should take to help clean up the problems plaguing American vehicle manufacturers, according to a new Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) national opinion survey to be released on November 21, 2006 by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (CSI).

The opinion poll also will show that, despite a recent slump in the cost of gasoline, nearly all Americans expect prices at the pump to surge again in the near future. While some in Detroit may be hoping for a major revival of demand for gas-hungry SUVs and trucks, the ORC poll finds that the widespread consumer expectation of soon-to-be-higher gas prices is translating into no decline in demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles, such as hybrids and "clean diesel" autos.

Even though the survey will reveal that most Americans blame Detroit for its own woes, there is broad public support evident for Washington to take steps that would help lower worker health care costs and make U.S. automakers more competitive through a focus on greater fuel efficiency.

  News event speakers will be:

  * Civil Society Institute President and Founder Pam Solo; and

  * Opinion Research Corporation Vice President Wayne Russum.

TO PARTICIPATE: You can join this live, phone-based national news conference (with full, two-way Q&A) at 1:30 p.m. ET on November 21, 2006 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. Ask for the "Washington/Big 3 automaker survey" news event.

CAN'T PARTICIPATE?: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at http://www.civilsocietyinstitute.org/ as of 6 p.m. ET on November 21, 2006.

The nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (http://www.civilsocietyinstitute.org/) is a think tank that serves as a catalyst for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business that can help to improve society. CSI has conducted more than a dozen major surveys since 2003 on energy issues, including vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, global warming and renewables. CSI is the parent organization of 40mpg.org (http:/www.40mpg.org) and the Hybrid Owners of America (http://www.hybridownersofamerica.org/).