Best Of - New CA Tire Regulations (09/07)

0:00This is an I heart podcast guaranteed human. Can't find am six forty you're listening to the John cobell podcast on the I heart radio. John cobellt show can't find am six forty more stimulating talk radio. We're on every day from three to six. Whatever you miss, you go to the podcast John cobellt show on demand. Same as the radio show. Right now we're going to talk with Darren Thomas. He's president and CEO of Dunlop tires North America. You probably have heard by now many of you have reacted very strongly to this. The California Energy Commission has a released a new policy and it in effect bands 70% of the tires that we now drive on if they're replacement tires. They can't be sold. There's two phases 2029 20 20 2033. And by the end of it, 70% of the replacement tires that we all use no longer available. And it's going to cost us hundreds of dollars more for these

1:00replacements. So says the California Energy Commission and Gavin Newsom saying they're more energy efficient. It has to do with rolling resistance. How much energy it takes to keep a tire moving. Darren Thomas is the president and CEO of Dunlop tires North America. And he has spoken out very strongly about this new policy this week. And let's get him on Darren Thomas. Welcome to the John cobellt show. How are you? Good job. Think you've had me, sir. Hope you guys are well there. Yeah, we are. Explain so the average driver right now can understand what this rolling resistance concept is. How it affects them. All right. Yeah. So let me put it in terms that I think everybody will understand. Let's let's just imagine two people have a pencil and an eraser like we all had in grade school. And when you slide that eraser across the paper, one of them creates a lot of friction and one of them does it. Essentially what we're going through is an application of technology that the tier one manufacturers like us have had available for years in order to allow that friction to be a

2:03little bit less and still accomplish the overall objective of that eraser. But that comes at a cost. And generally when that technology is not needed in products, we don't put it in there because it is very expensive to process. Generally allows tires to wear a little bit faster. And we sacrifice other technical components of that tire as a result of those technologies. So essentially what California Energy Commission is doing is by mandate requiring manufacturers to put technology in the tire that ultimately the replacement market has decided on its own. It doesn't need now whether or not that will actually increase the efficiency of the tire can be debated because let's say another person gets a pencil with an eraser, but just like happens in school, that eraser gets down to that metal nub starts to tear the paper. Well, that one's really easy to slide across the paper. The reality is it just doesn't last very long. So ultimately, yes, we can achieve some of these technical

3:05requirements that the Energy Commission is mandating. We just need to be honest with ourselves about what the cost is going to be, what the impact could be and understand that the application of these technologies is different by every global manufacturer, some of which can achieve them, which much greater capabilities others will have to take other routes that potentially could be risky to the overall consumer. And what would be the risks? The risk ultimately is when we design tires, we consider safety honestly as the primary objective. In the event, a consumer wants to choose, let's say mileage over safety. We don't allow that. We require safety to be the primary objective. If it's efficiency over safety, generally, we don't allow that. We make safety the objective. So when we talk about low rolling resistance tires, we just have to be realistic that even the California Energy

4:07Commission data tells us that tires with shallower tread depths will generally have lower rolling resistance. What does that mean? It may mean we may find that there are manufacturers who do not have Michelin or Dunlop or Bridgestone technologies, and they will have to result to other technical solutions. Those solutions more than likely will compromise, wet safety, potentially dry performance and mileage. So there's just going to be compromises related to this. And as much as we want to say, we can engineer one feature without sacrificing anything else. There's not a single manufacturer on the globe that will say that is a standard in which the tire industry has ever been able to operate. It is technically not feasible. So we have to make compromises. And what do you think the cost impact is going to be on a set of four tires? I'll say this. But if I look at even the CEC data, which isn't there to compare

5:11tire sizes, there is a particular size. Do they have in their data set and 18 inch? Let's just say for a modern SUV, the difference between the low rolling resistance tire and the replacement tire in their own sample with $18. So that's one example. If I asked our engineering team, which I did yesterday to give me that same tire, tell me how far away our product is from that low rolling resistance tire, it will take 3%. 3% on, let's say $175 tire. So maybe we're around the $5 or $6 range on that one size. But that's because that size was engineered already with some low rolling resistance features in it. If I take a common size, let's say for a Honda Accord or an older vehicle, maybe owned by someone who's had that vehicle for 10 years, that increases 17% just in materials, not in material processing, not in all of the other cost that we incur when we simply add a material.

6:13So it is not the $6.50 that the CEC is saying. That's the equivalent of saying, Hey, John, your cost increase is 20. Darens is zero. Therefore, John, you only owe 10. Well, that works at the CEC, but in the real world, John, your number is still $20 a tire. So there will be a disproportionate increase in the distribution of burden and it's going to hit people who buy economy tires the most. There's estimates in the California Post, according to the tire industry association, that it could be hundreds of dollars for a set of four tires, the increase. Yeah, it all begins on the tire size and how much that tire was engineered in the first place to have low rolling resistance. But I would say that probably you could anticipate easily $150 for a larger SUV or light truck tire size. And the CEC is now going to say that you're going to offset that with fuel efficiency.

7:13The problem is that calculation is even not consistent with the academic of science analysis. And that just continues to weaken the overall value equation for the consumer and puts in the low rolling resistance benefit outcome in jeopardy. So our position is there's other ways to solve this. We may not even have a problem in the first place and we just need to have a lot more dialogue because this is not the climate to put larger costs on consumers, especially when manufacturers are saying there's a challenge here. Are we talking up to $150 per tire? No, no, no, you're not going to be $150 per tire. I'm talking about a set of four installed ready to go. Okay, because some of these reports make it per tire. And so the cover the coverage is confusing. You know, I hear you talk about this in incredible detail, which is not surprising considering you're the president CEO of the company. But when I hear Nancy Skinner, who's on the California

8:15Energy Commission talk, she goes, oh, just trust us because you know, we know how to regulate hair dryers. Seriously, she said that. So yeah, yeah. I don't sense the same level of sophistication when it comes to the knowledge. Yeah, well, what I'll say is that the folks on that committee that sanctioned this legislation, I will tell you this, the data they used from a company called Smithers, which even my firm uses and discount tire America tire, who you can trust also uses, they have some valid data there. The problem that we have is we are taking a very, very broad scientific issue and broad stroking it across all of the tires in North America or California. And that might work with microwaves because all of our outlets are 110 volts. That is not the case with all different vehicles, the different

9:16braking systems, different weight requirements, different places. We're going to drive different temperature environments. So I hate to say this. I hate to break the news to people, but you don't drive your kids to school and your microwave. So it's like, it's like I told people I have children, they're in high school in college in the event that I lost my daughter because she had low rowing resistance tires and her breaking distance was decreased. I would not be comforted. So tires has always been about safety. That is not the issue with appliances. That is about energy consumption. So trying to grow or adopt efficiency rules for appliances has merit. That is a noble thing to do. And honestly, to seek emissions improvements is also noble. I was a kid in California that couldn't see the mountains. My kids can see them and I appreciate that. But that does not mean that all legislation was born out of real science, using that science in parallel with industry and

10:19doing that together. This is the result of legislation that sat on the books for 23 years and overnight we have some legislation. And I think we need to stop this California to say this is not about politics. This is just about safety. What's good for consumers and whether or not consumers need to bear this burden. And right now is not the time. And this is not the science. So you're concerned that this this new mandate could affect safety as as well as being a price hike. Yeah, what I can say is companies like ours, we win either way because we have the technology. But our company is winning at the expense of consumers is not winning. Yeah. So ultimately we need to do what is right long term and long term means let's really establish what is required to increase the efficiency of tires. Should there be a possible way to do that without compromise? The moment compromise is included in the equation.

11:19We have to ask ourselves what product are we dealing with? If that product deals with safety, put the brakes on. Let's talk about this and slow this process down because what you're going to have now are offshore companies around the world. Trying to determine if they have the science of composition of rubbers and all of these things to process this and many of them will not. And when they don't, they have to change structural design to accomplish that. And then we have problems. Thank you for coming on with us. It was very fascinating and informative. Darren Thomas, president. You go ahead. Yeah, no problem. No, no, no, I'll just say it's not every day the tire guys get to talk with everybody. We just hope everybody stays safe and just, you know, separates the facts from the fiction on this whole thing. Well, I'm glad you took the time to explain all this. President CEO of Dunlop Tires North America, Darren Thomas. Thank you again. You're listening to John Cobalt on demand from KFI AM640.

12:20KFI AM640 more stimulating talk radio. John Cobalt show and the hiccups are gone. Did you do what I told you to do? No, but I want to get some. I didn't have any sugar on me. But what did you do? I just, you ran out of here and get crazy person. So I guess you don't want to tell us. It's the long explanation. I'll tell you later. Believe me, you don't want to hear it right now. Okay. You're right. Never mind. Do you remember a few months back? I happened in March because I know you always get spooked by air crash stories. Yeah. Remember the fire truck that crashed into the plane on the tarmac at LaGuardia airport in New York City? And it killed the pilot and the co-pilot of the plane. This, this fire truck was responding to a different incident and and crossed

13:26what went right across the landing lanes crashed into the nose of this air Canada plane and killed killed the pilot and the co-pilot. The reason for this is two air traffic controllers left work early right before the collision. So the two controllers who were left had no backup and no assistance and they needed it. Leaving early is called an early shove. According to traffic controllers and these two characters took an early shove. It long standing practice in the industry. I guess when you're feeling tired and you want to go home. I'm tired. Can I go home? I mean, my job is a lot less important than an air traffic controller. And they killed two pilots and there were six other people who got introduced well.

14:30Be could the fire truck killed the two pilots because the air traffic controllers had gone home. Have they got a fire those two? An early shove. That's that's. I never heard of this. What did you feel guilty? Yes. Yes. 100%. I mean, haven't we all if we have responsible jobs we've been on waste our days as social media influencers, right? But if we have responsible jobs and and and you leave early and that gives too much work to somebody else or some project doesn't get done. I don't know. I feel glad about that. I know you do. I do. Yeah. These people are landing planes. The most important one of the most important jobs where people actually died and it's like I'm not into it anymore. Can I have an early shove?

15:31I'm talking. I'm even now. What the hell? What is with I mean the work ethic has just totally evaporated. It's just gone ever since COVID ever since COVID. Yeah, this would not have happened before COVID. There'd be plane crashes or collisions, but not because of an early shove. Although, I don't know. They said it's been just been going on for years. Well, it shouldn't been going on for years. It shouldn't go for a day. Crazy. We got a special segment coming up right after four o'clock. And I want to give you a preview here. I've looked at this film and it's just terrific. It's premiering at the Man Chinese Theater today. And it's done by Michael Geer. And he's an award woman winning filmmaker. It's entitled The Heroism and Resiliency of 9-11 from tragedy to triumph. I watched this film and it's about the people who were involved in the 9-11 crashes.

16:37What their lives are like 25 years later. Survivors, rescuers. It's really moving. And I was really mesmerized by this thing. I'm going to play a trailer and then we're going to do an interview right after that. This is this is heroism and resiliency of 9-11. Listen to this trailer. September 11, 2001 was a day of unimaginable terror and unshakable courage in the face of devastation. Humanities, strengths and resilience shine through. The heroism and resiliency of 9-11 features the inspiring true stories of courage, unity, and the perseverance that emerged from one of the darkest days in American history. Through the eyes of first responders, survivors and ordinary citizens who became extraordinary heroes, this documentary honors the selflessness and bravery that defined a generation. Andy Card, chief of staff to President George W. Bush, was by the President's side,

17:42offering a first-hand account of leadership under pressure. At the Federal Reserve, Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson took swift action to stabilize a financial system, averting what could have been economic catastrophe. With low Manhattan cutoff, over 500,000 people were evacuated by boat in the largest maritime rescue in history. At the Pentagon, Flight 77 struck the heart of U.S. defense amid the chaos heroes emerged, rushing into danger to save others. Passengers aboard Flight 93 fought back against the terrorists and prevented the plane from reaching its target, saving countless lives on the ground. The film features these stories and more. The real-life accounts, archival footage, and dramatized re-enactments. The heroism and resiliency of 9-11 is not just a tribute to those we lost, but a celebration of the indomitable spirit that rose from the ashes, showcasing the resilience

18:48of those who rebuilt their lives and transformed grief into advocates. It is a story of hope, proving that even in tragedy, inspiration can be found in the courage and compassion of everyday people. And we're going to talk with the filmmaker Michael Geier right after Deborah's news. It's already received five best documentary honors. It's the heroism and resiliency of 9-11, 25th anniversary. Coming up, and this is quite a striking documentary. And we'll talk about it coming up next segment. You're listening to John Cobalt on demand from KFI AM640.

19:53We just played a little teaser clip from this documentary, The Heroism and Resiliency of 9-11 from tragedy to triumph. It's the 25th anniversary, as you may know. And it's narrated by Gary Sinesi, and the filmmaker is Michael Geier. And it's interviews and old footage, interviews with the survivors, family members of those who died. First responders, I mean, some really dramatic stories. And tells you where all these people are now. And how 9-11 has impacted them since. There's several clips of Andrew Card, who was George Bush's chief of staff. And he was the one who broke the news to Bush. And Bush was reading story books to a class in Sarasota. Let's get Michael Geier on. Michael, how are you? I am great. Thank you for having me, John. It's a horrific movie.

20:55Wow. Yeah, thank you. That was a long project. I started that in 2022. Believe it or not. Well, you know, after 25 years, I think we've all seen plenty of documentaries and remembrances. And looks back. But this was something really moving and touching. And I was unexpectedly moved. I was like, these stories, why don't you talk about the general tone of the film and what people are going to see when they watch? Absolutely. So Chris Meak approached me. He had seen some of my other documentaries. And he knew he wanted to do something for the 25th commemoration. But he didn't know what. And so he talked to me about producing the film for him. And you know, I told them, you know, we don't want to produce something about 9-11. That's like all of the other 9-11 movies. The story's already been told. And so after thinking about it, I kind of went back to him and said, let's focus on the positive things that came from 9-11 despite the tragedy. Let's focus on the heroism, the resiliency.

21:56I really wanted to find stories that people hadn't heard before. And make it really an inspirational film, which is, you know, interesting to say when there was so much tragedy, but there was so much inspiration that happened not only in 9-11, but the days that followed, the weeks that followed. And those are all featured in the film. And yes, so that's the dress that we took. And audiences have been very inspired. Yeah, because it's not easy to do a film on something that's relatively recent history. And virtually everybody knows, you know, so many people live through it. And then like I said, there were so many retrospectives. And you manage to find, you know, that you managed to thread the needle there and come up with a concept. And I think it's because there was so much human storytelling. It was people talking about their experience and how harrowing the experience was for them. Absolutely. And, you know, and just the stories like you, you saw, there's probably stories you haven't, you hadn't seen before, correct? Yes, oh, absolutely.

22:57That's the thing. I do, there wasn't one moment where I thought, all right, I knew this, I knew this, I knew this. No, it was like, oh, wow, because it was, it was, you know, individuals who had to live through it. And some of the stories, like that, the guy was trapped in the building for hours and hours with all this. Oh, well, I know. Yes. Very to life. 30 feet down, 30 feet down below the towers, seeing his sergeant were buried alive. Yeah, that was a powerful story. Yeah, because, you know, I don't know anybody that's happened to. It's like, you know, what is it like? You'd be 30 feet under. What was he under concrete? He had kind of heavy beams on his. Yes. Yeah, he was trapped with a huge piece of concrete over him on his chest. And he was down there with the sergeant for over 10 hours before anybody even realized they were down there. And then once they realized they were down there, you know, the rescuers that went down there were three, you know, it was a tiny hole. They had to crawl down with all this hot steel, smoke everywhere. They could barely see the heat with extreme fires all around them.

24:01And, you know, Scott Strauss, one of the rescuers, literally says on his way down, he stopped and and he's just apologizing to his boys, thinking he's not going to make it out. I'm sorry. You know, take care of your mom and make me proud in tears as he's crawling down to save this man. Thankfully, they all came back out of life. But, you know, he was willing to risk his life just for the hope that he'd be able to save Wilhelm and on the sergeant. And, you know, so the film is filled with stories of heroism. In many stories that people haven't heard like, well, it's crowded. He's the man with the red bandana who rescued a lot of people. He didn't survive, but, you know, he saved a lot of people in the process before the towers came down. Roger Ferguson, he ran the federal reserve. I wanted to put his story in because so many have not heard about this unsung hero. No, he literally saved the country from financial difficulties after. Yes, I'd never heard of him either. And telling the story about what he did to make sure that the financial system kept moving. One of the most important things in that whole event was the work that he did.

25:05First, I heard of him. Yeah, isn't that crazy? Yeah. And I'm surprised at how many people have never heard of the boat lift. You know, I hadn't. I hadn't either. I thought I was talking about that. Talk about that. It isn't that crazy. Yeah, 500,000 people were trapped in the southern tip of Manhattan. Everything, of course, was collapsed going north. They couldn't go that direction. They were injured, some of them seriously. They were covered in the white dust and just needed off the island. But there was nowhere to go. There's all water around them. And so, boat starts showing up within the Mariner community and started rescuing people. Then the Coast Guard got involved. And I interviewed, he's a rear admiral now, but back then he was a tenant Michael Day, who literally worked for the Coast Guard, but put out a call to all of the Mariner's. If you've got a boat, please show up to the southern tip of Manhattan. Both came from every direction, large and small, and just took off over 500,000 people in around nine hours and transported them over to New Jersey. I had never heard that.

26:06That these random people showed up with their boats and transport 500,000 in nine hours. I actually had to back the movie up. I was watching on my at-boat. It's like, no, that's not right. I had to play that again. It's like, did I miss here that? Yeah, that's really something else. Listen, you've done a great job here. Michael Geier and the movie is called The Herosim in Resiliency of 9-11 from Tragedy to Trim. And it's going to be at the TCL Chinese Six Theatre. Is it running? Well, let me just say that the film is already out and it's on streaming platforms now. Oh, it is. Okay. Last, yeah, we had our screening at the TLC Chinese Theatre. That was just our Hollywood premiere. And it went great. We all had a wonderful time. September 8th, we're doing another screening in New York. And then we've got screenings at Harvard and the University of Missouri. And we just had one at the Reagan Library, a presidential library here in LA. So we've got screenings all over the country.

27:08But for the public, the general public, you know, you can go on to Amazon Prime, video, Google TV, Apple TV, YouTube movies. And they can watch it now. They can watch it tonight. Oh, you should. As you said, it's called The Herosim in Resiliency of 9-11, as you said. Michael Geier, you should be very proud. Great work. Thank you. And I am. And I appreciate you having me on just to let people know because you know, the film was produced to inspire people. And if they don't know about it, they're not going to watch it. And they're not going to be inspired. But everybody who has watched it has come back to me. Even New Yorkers who expected to be depressed came back to me and said, Oh, thank you. I cannot believe how much pressure this film was. Yeah, yeah, you really walk away. Just just shocked it. What humans can do, what they are capable of. And yeah, that's something else. All right, Michael, thank you for coming on. Hey, my pleasure. Thank you for having me. All right. You're listening to John Cobalt on demand from KFI AM640. Can't buy AM640 live everywhere.

28:08The I heart radio app on from three to six. So could follow us at John Cobalt radio on all social media at John Cobalt radio. We're going to have Susan Shelley on. She's communist for Southern California news group right after Deborah's news. She's a headline news from the last minute money grab is his most arrogant yet. mentioned this earlier in the week. He's going to be signing legislation that takes $20 million from the vehicle registration fees you pay. Our vehicle registration fees are among the highest. If not the highest in the country. And he's giving himself free security services for himself and his family after he leaves office. No longer governor, no longer a public servant. He's going to be a private citizen and we're going to be paying for his security. Susan Shelley's going to talk about that coming up after four very sad news for Deborah here.

29:13Looks like they're going through with the massive deer execution on Catalina Island. And over the next few years, they're going to kill 2000 mule deer. I can't believe that this is being allowed. I can't believe that nobody was able to stop this. Catalina Island Conservancy is going to call the herd. They're going to wipe out the herd five years and 2000 mule deer. 200 are going to be hunted with rifles over the next two months. Doesn't that sound insane? Well, you know why they're doing it. I don't care why they're doing it. There's other ways to there's other ways to preserve Catalina. It looks like they they considered all these other ways and they thought none of them would work. First thing here's here's what they what these these deer do. They they eat all the native shrubs. And as the shrubs disappear, it's replaced by invasive grasses which dry out

30:18and burnally easily. I know. So they're claiming it's a wildfire risk. Yeah. And then all the deer will die in a fire. Okay. We don't know that that's going to happen. Well, that's they're taking preventive measures here. They could round up the deer and put them in a sanctuary. We've talked about that before. They're not they're looking at the easy way out. Just shooting and killing the deer. They looked at contraception and sterilization, but not feasible for a large population of 2000. Too bad. So this is very hard to approach a thousand male deer and say, hey, come over here. We're going to do the step that I get that. Fencing off the animals was rejected. Introducing predators. They decided too dangerous because they'll start eating people. They've tried for 40 years of hunting. That hasn't done much good. So I'm just going to do on just just genocide. Yeah. That's ridiculous. There's an online petition you may want to sign.

31:19It's collected more than 32,000 signatures. Done a lot of good. This is done. No good. How come governor Newsom didn't intervene? Janissan sent him a letter asking for this not to happen. He can't read. He said he can't read. So he didn't he wasn't able to. But he had a lot of books in that wine cellar. Just drank all the wine. All right, when we come back Susan Shelley is coming on the news columnist and is going to tell us about Gavin Newsom taking $20 million of your car registration money and is going to spend it on security for himself and the lovely Jennifer. Debra Mark, next live in the KFI 24 hour newsroom. You've been listening to the John Cobalt Show podcast. You can always hear the show live on KFI AM640 from 3 to 6 pm every Monday through Friday. And of course anytime on demand on the iHeart radio app.

32:19KFI AM640. AM640. More stimulating talk.