GoGreenNation.org » Transportation

California steps up on air quality

Christine — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:37:10 +0000

JASON DEAREN reports for the Associated Press

Auto dealers say California’s proposed rules to require carmakers to build more electric and other less-polluting hybrid cars and trucks by 2025 will cost consumers more money and will stifle the industry’s growth.

Consumer groups say customers might pay more for the vehicles but will save in lower fuel and other costs.

More photos: Click thumbnails to enlarge

Both sides submitted testimony Thursday during a meeting of the state’s air quality board, which was poised to vote on rules to require that vehicles emit about 75 percent less smog-producing pollutants.

The new standards, which also include big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, would begin with new cars sold in 2015, and get increasingly more stringent until 2025. The rules also mandate that one of every seven new cars sold in 2025 in the state be a zero-emission or plug-in hybrid vehicle.

California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols said she hopes the rules lead “the nation and the world.”

“We can’t afford to wait. We have to act on these issues now,” she said at the panel’s meeting. “Our projections show continued growth in population and vehicle miles traveled, which will affect air quality for years to come.”

Other states often adopt California’s smog emissions standards because they are stricter than federal ones.

Fourteen states, including Washington, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, have adopted the state’s current emissions goals, which is why the new regulations could have a wide-ranging effect. Of those states, 10 also adopted the zero-emission vehicle standards.

But the California New Car Dealers Association and other industry groups representing those who sell cars said the board is overestimating consumer demand for electric vehicles and other so-called “zero-emission vehicles.”

Some dealer groups have estimated that $3,200 would be added to the average cost of a car because of the required technological changes, and that consumers have been slow to adopt them.

Jonathan Morrison, of the state dealers’ association, said car retailers are supportive of new technologies that are accepted by their customers, but said the acceptance of electric and other vehicles has been slow.

“Consumers do not make purchasing decisions based upon regulatory mandates,” he said.

The board’s research staff disputes those estimates and says increases in hybrid and other sales continue to rise as more cars hit the market. They argue that fuel cost savings will make up for any vehicle price increase.

“Our research shows a $1,400 to $1,900 car price increase. But over the life of the vehicles, the owners save $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance costs,” board spokesman David Clegern said.

One of the nation’s foremost consumer groups, the Consumers’ Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports, supports the regulations.

The rules will “protect consumers by encouraging the development of cleaner, more efficient cars that save families money, help reduce the American economy’s vulnerability to oil price shocks and reduce harmful air pollution,” according to a letter from the group.

Automakers including Ford Motor Corp., Chrysler Group LLC, General Motors Co., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and others said they generally supported the regulations in short statements delivered during the hearing.

The overall goal of the state is to have 1.4 million zero-emission and plug-in hybrids on California roads by 2025. But the program also looks ahead to 2050, laying groundwork for a goal of having 87 percent of the state’s fleet of new vehicles fueled by electricity, hydrogen fuel cells or other clean technologies.

Yet the rules do provide some flexibility for automakers by giving them the ability to claim credits toward the state’s zero-emission mandates if the company’s other models exceed the federal greenhouse gas emissions mandates. The credits could be applied toward those zero-emission vehicle mandates starting in 2018 through 2021.

However, this aspect of the plan was not supported by many of the U.S. car makers, who said it could take hundreds of thousands of electric and other clean vehicles off the road in that time period, hurting the emerging market.

“This greenhouse gas over-compliance provision runs counter to the goals of the zero-emission vehicle mandates,” said Robert Babick, speaking on behalf of GM. “We don’t see how this provision makes the program better.”

The board is scheduled to resume hearing testimony on Friday morning in Los Angeles.

TRAIN Act To Limit Clean Air Protection Passes The House

erauch — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:44:48 +0000

The U.S. House of Representatives forwarded a bill on Friday that environmental leaders warn would undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to curb air pollution and protect public health. Green groups are now urging the Senate and President Barack Obama to stand strong — and avoid a repeat of recent environmental health failures, such as the shelving of proposed ozone and greenhouse gas standards.

“The Tea Party House has passed, with ease, the most radical dirty-air legislation in the history of this country,” John Walke, the clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told HuffPost. “It absolutely eviscerates the legal standards for adopting emissions limits under the Clean Air Act.”

Introduced by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.), the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act would create a special committee to oversee the EPA’s rules and regulations, and require the agency to consider economic impacts on polluters when it sets standards concerning how much air pollution is too much. For the last 41 years, since passage of the Clean Air Act, only scientific and medical considerations have been allowed in that analysis.

“This results in lying to the American people about whether the air is healthy or not,” said Walke.

via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/23/train-act-clean-air-protection-house_n_978502.html

The Mighty Missouri River: The Flooding And The Damage Done – Planet Ark

Trish Riley — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:11:42 +0000

The cost of America’s quiet billion dollar disaster in the Upper Midwest keeps rising as floodwaters decline.

Shortly before Memorial Day, a summer of unprecedented flooding from Montana to Missouri along the Missouri River started washing away interstate highway lanes and swamping rail lines as it routed thousands of people from their homes.

Flooding continues this Labor Day weekend and is expected not to end for several more weeks. As the water recedes, the extent of damage from three months of flooding is showing up.

via World Environment News – The Mighty Missouri River: The Flooding And The Damage Done – Planet Ark.

New cruise technology reduces air polllution

Christine — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:42:29 +0000

On Wednesday, October 6th the Port of San Francisco will take an impressive stride forward in green technology innovation and become the first port in California to provide shoreside electrical power for cruise ships at berth. There are 9,000 premature deaths in California every year from air pollution — shoreside power results in zero air emissions to power a ship while connected in port. This new system is not only the first in the California, but will be just the fourth in the world.

5 Ways to Add Local Food to Your Diet

Henry Taksier — Wed, 11 May 2011 19:52:46 +0000

Ever tasted the difference between a ripe, juicy strawberry picked yesterday and an oversized strawberry sprayed with chemicals, picked last week and trucked across the country?

If yes, then you might understand why the number of farmers markets has more than tripled in the past 15 years. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more consumers are seeking alternatives to industrialized agriculture by searching for food produced close to home.

Studies have shown that eating locally grown food improves health, supports local economies, promotes the biodiversity of crops and reduces the environmental impact of shipping food around the world.

For useful tips on eating local (especially in Gainesville), check out The Fine Print’s simple guide: 5 Ways to Add Local Food to Your Diet.

Parks Dept. Disavows a Speed Limit for Bicycles – nytimes.com

erauch — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 04:50:03 +0000

On Tuesday morning, police officers aimed a radar gun at West Drive in Central Park, hoping to catch bicyclists going too fast. Instead they exposed a city bureaucracy bungling the enforcement of one of the simplest of laws: the speed limit.

It was not enough that the Police Department sent officers on Tuesday night to the homes of most of the 10 cyclists given tickets to revoke the citations and apologize, a rarity, to be sure. On Wednesday, the Department of Parks and Recreation disavowed the 15 mile-per-hour speed limit for cyclists that it announced two decades ago and which is posted in small print on signs found in Central Park.

Officials with the parks department said the inclusion of the 15 m.p.h. limit on the signs, which enumerate many park rules, down to the ban on picking flowers, was an oversight.

Vickie Karp, a parks department spokeswoman, said the signs were outdated and placed there in the 1990s by the Central Park Conservancy, the private nonprofit group that helps manage the park. The signs would be removed, Ms. Karp said. The parks department’s position, she said, was that cyclists must follow the same speed limit, 25 m.p.h., that the Transportation Department set for the roadways. That limit was set by the city’s Transportation Department, she said.

via http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/nyregion/24bike.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Florida Loses $2.4 Billion For High-Speed Trains – huffingtonpost.com

erauch — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:14:05 +0000

The Obama administration has taken back the $2.4 billion allocated to Florida for high-speed trains and is inviting other states to apply for the money, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday.

The project, which would have connected Tampa and Orlando with high-speed trains, was rejected by Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican. He said he didn’t want to obligate the state to pay for what could be expensive operating costs for the line.

However, the Florida Department of Transportation on Wednesday released a study showing the line connecting Tampa to Orlando would have had an operating surplus in 2015, its first year of operation.

It’s still possible for Florida supporters of the project to reapply for the funds without state help if they create a regional transit authority working in conjunction with Amtrak or another established transportation authority. However, they would have to work swiftly to meet the Transportation Department’s April 4 deadline for applications, a very tight window for such a complex undertaking.

via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/florida-loses-24-billion-_n_834768.html

Commuting is as bad as you think

Christine — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:19:48 +0000

Car commutes sap your life force — that’s common knowledge. But can you quantify exactly how much, and how quickly? The Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University can. It’s just released its annual Urban Mobility Report, which includes data on how much time, money, and mental health urban-area car commuters lose to congestion every year.

Maybe a commute of whatever distance is more fun in a three-wheeled car, the Triac of Green Vehicles, as reporter by Rachael Myrow, http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201101250850/b. The Mercury News has a picture and story here, http://www.mercurynews.com/business-headlines/ci_16693879?nclick_check=1, The company’s website is http://www.greenvehicles.com/.

Bright side of worldwide recession: less air pollution :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Business

Trish Riley — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:00:44 +0000

WASHINGTON — Here’s one plus from the global economic recession: Carbon dioxide pollution last year dropped for the first time in a decade.

But it didn’t last and it wasn’t as big a drop as expected.

Burning fossil fuels to power factories, cars and airplanes spews out greenhouse gases that warm the world. But during the economic downturn, some factories shut down and people didn’t drive or fly as much.

That helped drop emissions about 1.3 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

via Bright side of worldwide recession: less air pollution :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Business.

JOIN Run-Bike-Walk Oct. 15!

Trish Riley — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:44:54 +0000

A project of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board of Gainesville, Florida

Bike Parade, Homecoming Gainesville, and Ribfest!

Homecoming, October 15th Noonish

Homecoming Parade/5th Ave and 6th St

Join other bike enthusiasts at this year’s homecoming parade when RunBikeWalk (runbikewalk.com) will have a unit in Wave 4 of the parade and eventually join this year’s Ribfest. Ribfest is a fundraiser for the Cotton Club and will feature of course ribs, live music, and family oriented fun as well as a collection of bikes and bike enthusiasts along the new 6th St. bike corridor. We hope this to be the first festival of many Homecoming Gainesville festivals where we can bring together the celebration of the Gator Nation with the richness of our community on Homecoming parade day.

If you are interested in joining the parade or contributing in some way to this year’s event please contact Michael Amish at mike@indiogreenstore.com or for more questions call 328.7721

via Run Bike Walk (dot) com – A project of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board of Gainesville, Florida.