The trash bin of car history is filled with attempts to produce an emissions-free petroleum-liberated automobile. None of worked out so far, and many people are ready to give up. That’s a shame, because the silver bullet could be standing right before us: the plug-in biofuel hybrid.
As President Obama takes office, he will be relying on a small team of advisers to help him hit the ground running. Obama’s White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is well known for his “take no prisoners” approach to politics and business. Yet his strong support for hybrids is less understood. Emanuel could emerge as the country’s most powerful advocate for swift action regarding fuel-efficient gas-electric vehicles.
In a case of déjà vu, oil prices climbed 23 percent last week. While most forecasters are expecting oil to remain in the $50 to $60 range throughout 2009, the world’s oil supply is no less vulnerable—and perhaps even more susceptible—to geopolitical forces than it was before the financial meltdown. Vulnerabilities are most prevalent in the world’s six major oil transit chokepoints.
Last Wednesday, President-elect Barack Obama announced former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as his choice to be the next Secretary of Agriculture. The appointment has fueled growing concern from ethanol critics, who worry that the Obama administration may expand subsidies to an industry that they feel has already received more than its fair share of generosity from Washington.
In his first televised interview since winning the election, President-elect Barack Obama spoke with Steve Kroft of CBS’s 60 Minutes about the potential bailout of the American auto industry. He also reminded the American people about the importance of breaking from their addiction to oil—despite the recent and dramatic drop in prices at the pumps.
As investors grappled with the potential ramifications of a looming global economic downturn today, oil prices fell to levels not seen since late 2007. The dive was precipitated by a growing sense that in the coming months, businesses and individuals around the world will drastically cut oil use, and that a spike in demand from emerging economies is about to plateau.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released a report which sites an overall improvement in new car fuel efficiency from 20.6 miles per gallon in 2007 to a projected 20.8 miles per gallon for 2008 – a jump of .2 miles per gallon. A small step in the right direction.
As the current congress scrambles to pass an energy bill before its term expires at the end of the year, some parts of the House version of the legislation should be of note to green car enthusiasts.
If you've watched any cable news or read the editorial pages of a major newspaper in the past few months, you're likely to have come across advertisements energy baron T. Boone Pickens' plan to decrease America's dependency on foreign oil. One element of the plan is the promotion of a long existent but relatively unused automotive technology: engines powered by compressed natural gas.
The drop in oil prices—more than $50 off the record high price of $147.27 a barrel on July 11—raises questions about how soon auto companies will deliver on exciting plans for “game-changing” alternative vehicles.
