As one of my economics professors put it, the American auto industry "shouldn't exist." Therefore, it was with great dismay that I read the increasingly nonsensical US Congress may move to bail out the US auto industry. Again. Of all the programs and projects that merit or simply need better funding in this country, saving the US auto industry would not make the top five quadrillion. We could invest in education, in infrastructure or in healthcare. Anything but the auto industry!

With the move toward greener modes of transport — provided the nose dive in oil prices doesn't push people back to their Hummers — the American auto industry cannot compete. The Chevy Volt is lovely. But, as is so often the case, it's too little too late. The Japanese and the Europeans have an enormous lead in the short run. Ford actually pays Toyota a license fee to use its Hybrid Synergy Drive software for its hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles. Audi, BMW and Mercedes now sell cars that use cleaner diesel engines to burn as much fuel as a much smaller vehicles. The American automakers can't compete in the short run. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to spend valuable government dollars just to make sure that a few thousand people don't lose their jobs tomorrow.

Which is not to say I don't care about those autoworkers who will lose their jobs should the US auto industry collapse. Such an event would qualify as unfortunate. I do care quite a bit, however, that those autoworkers keep their jobs at the expense of a much more important program. With $50 billion, the United States could, for instance, make a good effort at modernizing its ancient, decaying power grid. Not only would that create a fair number of good jobs in and of itself, it would also put the United States in a better position to harness clean, renewable energy that also creates jobs, reduces our dependence on foreign oil and keeps more polar bears alive.

In the long run, America could lead the way in clean transport. A number of US firms have promising battery technology that could become vital to the production of tomorrows vehicles. Companies like Tesla Motors have the potential to become the Google of clean transport, creating good high-skill jobs, propelling our economy forward and making the planet cleaner. Ford, Chrysler and GM offer nothing but a huge bill to save a few unfortunate people at the expense of the whole country. Let's put that money to use somewhere useful.