Fuel Efficiency

War and grease

The U.S. military’s battle to wean itself off oil 4
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago The U.S. military is the largest consumer of petroleum in the United States, and some top brass are very unhappy about that. One general stationed in Iraq, frustrated at seeing lives put at risk in fuel convoys, asked for "a self-sustainable energy solution," including "solar panels and wind turbines." Is the military really ready to embrace clean energy? Amanda Little went to the Pentagon to find out, in this final excerpt from her new book, Power Trip.
How to win friends and influence people. No seriously, how?

More on No Impact Man and personal eco-behavior 11
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The other day I highlighted a new piece from Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker, which was critical of No-Impact Man and other "stunts" in hyper-green living. Mainly I used it as an excuse to point to my old piece on the civic sphere, which, ahem, you should read.

I should have made it clear in the post that I have not read the No-Impact Man book (or the other books mentioned in Kolbert's piece), so I'm not really qualified to comment on whether her criticisms are fair.

Not surprisingly, Colin Beavan -- No-Impact Man himself -- doesn't think so! Kolbert's main charge is that personal lifestyle changes like his, no matter how committed or extreme, tend to obscure the fact that the big changes needed are collective -- social and political. One person changing doesn't amount to much.

Beavan wrote me to protest that a) he agrees with Kolbert's point entirely, b) his book actually contains a whole section toward the end about volunteering for NGOs and going to lobby Congress, and c) he has consistently used his platform to push for social action. One of Beavan's supporters also mounts a convincing defense in this post. It does seem that, whatever you could say about the other books in Kolbert's review, she did seem to squeeze Beavan into a box to make a point, a box in which he doesn't really belong.
Bipartisan feebate bill introduced to Senate

Like Cash for Clunkers? You’ll love feebates! 5
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Given the success of Cash for Clunkers, it makes sense to follow up with a policy that more sustainably drives the transition to fuel-efficient vehicles.
Saving our asses at a profit

The good news about energy efficiency 3
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Conventional wisdom has it that the effort to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is going to be long, expensive, and painful for consumers; efficiency can at best defray the costs. But economic models consistently underestimate energy efficiency. A batch of recent studies supports that argument -- studies that examine the potential for energy efficiency to reduce emissions at a negative cost, i.e., a profit.
Car Companies Plug into Electric

Ford, Toyota, GM all to help meet Obama’s goal of 1 million plug-ins by 2015 3
Posted 4 months ago
Major car companies are starting to vote on their choice for the "car and fuel of the future" with big bets on manufacturing capacity. The winner, no surprise, is going to be highly efficient plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles.
Who knew?

Screwing up environment not so great for economy, studies find 4
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
You know all those things we do that screw up the environment but are allegedly necessary for a vibrant economy? Recent studies paint a different picture ...
Americans save on fuel bills under ACES—see map 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
The American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act allocates funding to produce the next generation of clean, fuel-efficient vehicles in the United States, and when combined with clean vehicle performance standards adopted by the Obama administration, the American on-road fleet will become about 25% more fuel efficient over the next decade.
Zen and the art of anxiety maintenance

Why I’m not freaked out about the Waxman-Markey climate bill 36
Posted 4 months, 4 weeks ago
Will the Waxman-Markey bill spark a full-scale energy revolution? No. Not in the next 10-15 years. But I've been trying to focus on the bigger picture: will there be an energy revolution? The two questions are not the same; thinking they are is the road to freakout.
Obama’s new CAFE standards keep the pressure on Congress to act 1
Posted 5 months, 4 weeks ago
Obama's fuel efficiency standards are only the first of many CO2 regulations to come. Each one will increase pressure on legislators.
The Daily Show on fuel efficiency standards 3
Posted 6 months ago
Jon Stewart was brilliant as usual on Obama's new fuel efficiency standards:
The biggest step the U.S. government has ever taken to cut CO2.

Breaking: Obama to raise new car fuel efficiency standard to 39 mpg by 2016 0
Posted 6 months ago
The CAFE is closed

Fuel economy in context 13
Posted 6 months ago
Fuel economy standards are among the least precise tools for addressing climate change.
Swept of my Fiat

Chrysler opens with a Fiat at the New York Auto Show 0
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago
How will Chrysler save itself and the auto industry? With a tiny blue coupe featuring italian-leather seats, of course.
Tax a mile in another man's shoes

Oregon’s successful mileage tax experiment worked smoothly—and helped curb congestion 3
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
A system of per-mile road usage fees can replace our dysfunctional gasoline tax as a way of funding transportation infrastructure.
A tale of two taxes

Let’s call a gas tax the ‘All-American Energy-Independence Assessment’ 0
Posted 8 months ago
The time will come -- we all hope very soon -- when the economy turns around, employment rises, and a sustained period of economic growth ensues. When that happens, serious consideration should be given to increases in the federal tax on gasoline.
It had a good run

Whatever its virtues, the gas tax is nearing the end of its life 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
Feed-in tariffs, Chu off-message, MPG v. GPM, and the prospects for solar PV 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
Sustainable funding for sustainable infrastructure 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Ford starts marketing campaign to emphasize fuel economy in new hybrid 9
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago
The specs and the dish on the 2010 third generation Prius 4
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago