Less than one week after it launched, the Car Allowance Rebate System—or
"Cash For Clunkers"—has almost run through its $1 billion in funding.
Congressional leaders scrambled Friday to extend the program before the
August recess—but Senate leaders like Dianne Feinstein of California may
be reluctant to add further money to a program many felt had lost its
environmental benefits.
The most effective way to achieve proposed long-term reductions in US greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce the number of miles we travel. That’s the conclusion of Moving Cooler, a new study by the Urban Land Institute and a diverse group of organizations.
Over the past few weeks, Congress has moved to defend hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol, and compressed natural gas from detractors in the EPA and the Department of Energy, ensuring their continued survival in the national budget. With billions of dollars in subsidies and tax exemptions hanging in the balance, the battle for alternative fuel supremacy is likely to rage on for some time.
It’s a sign of the times when ultra-exotic carmakers veer in a greener direction. In the last twelve months, Ferrari, Bentley, and even Rolls Royce have put forth plans to become more eco-friendly. Now, it’s Lamborghini’s turn.
Industry analysts are beginning to acknowledge the most significant constraint on deploying advanced technology fuel-efficient: the slow rate of turning over the fleet of existing cars.
First, the good news. As a result of regulations in the 1970s and the introduction of emission control technology (particularly the catalytic converter), emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides from U.S. cars have decreased to just 60-90% of 1970 levels. Now, the bad news. Despite this technological progress, air quality has improved only slightly. How could that be?
One day after the US government rejected GM’s turnaround plan, Mark LaNeve, the company’s vice president of sales, service, and marketing for North America, spoke with Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine. For most of the discussion, LaNeve and Alterman talked about restoring consumer confidence and the future of GM brands. But finally LaNeve said that GM needs to turn away from high-performance and toward fuel-efficiency to send "a better message" to key stakeholders."
The future of ethanol in the United States is bleak. Gas prices are low, ethanol plants are idling, and a host of new projects have been put on hold or canceled entirely. Nevertheless, a number of well-funded industry groups in Washington are committed to expanding the use of corn ethanol.
Toyota’s Tetsuya Kaida has a dream job—literally. As the creator and manager of the company’s “Business Revolution Corporate Value Project” at company headquarters in Japan, he dreams up vehicle concepts such as seaweed cars, meditation chambers on wheels, and plug-in hybrid trucks inspired by gorillas.
The Honda Civic GX, a vehicle that runs on compressed natural gas, was named last week as the greenest car of the year by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. But the most dramatic trend this year was the emergence of two Chevy cars on the top ten list—and the introduction of clean diesel vehicles.
