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Author |
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Full of Mitt
Romney flip-flops, does not support California CO2 waiver |
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05 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 9:39 AM on 05 Feb 2008 Remember how Mitt Romney joined with the other GOP presidential candidates in appearing to support California in its quest to gain a waiver from the U.S. EPA to allow it to regulate vehicle CO2 emissions? How Romney said, and we quote, "I side with states being able to make their own decisions, even if I don't always agree with the decisions they make"? Well, the Mittster, a fervent ... |
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| Topics: California, cars, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, Mitt Romney, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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No such thing as a feebate lunch
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David Roberts |
30 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Remember that cool experiment in feebates that was about to pass through California's Assembly? Guess not. |
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| Topics: California, cars, legislation, politics, state politics (all these topics) |
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Solar to the electric car: You complete me
The electrification of transportation will also help green the grid |
Adam Browning |
30 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I promised more on the impact of Project Better Place's electric car plans -- and I deliver with an article here. |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, electricity grid, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Boston Gullible
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David Roberts |
30 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Via Autoblog Green, it looks like the widely discredited study showing that Hummers beat Priuses has now reached prime time: For Gristmillian debunkings of the study, see biodiversivist and Joe Romm. |
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| Topics: cars, Prius, TV (all these topics) |
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Why are American automakers special?
The Big Three attempt to persuade other states of the danger of fuel efficiency standards |
David Roberts |
29 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Automakers are ramping up their PR effort to persuade states not to adopt California's auto emission standards, which they fear will survive the Bush administration's latest monkey wrench. But their arguments are as silly as ever: Dave McCurdy, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers ... said the California-inspired initiative would result in a "patchwork quilt of inconsistent and competing fuel economy programs" that would lead t ... |
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| Topics: California, state politics, business, Big Auto, cars, politics, air pollution, greenhouse-gas emissions, climate (all these topics) |
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Fee Enterprise
California considers |
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29 Jan 2008 |
News |
| "feebate" bill to make polluting cars more expensive Posted at 7:16 AM on 29 Jan 2008 California is pursuing new ideas to reduce vehicle emissions in the state after the U.S. EPA denied the state a waiver it needed to implement its vehicle greenhouse-gas emission standards. California lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill this week that would set up a "feebate" system for new car purchases. Excessively polluting vehicles would become mo ... |
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| Topics: California, cars, climate, news (all these topics) |
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Feebate watch
California mulls nation's first feebate bill |
David Roberts |
28 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Feebates are one of the most promising strategies for lowering vehicle fleet emissions. This week, the California Assembly will vote on the nation's first feebate bill, the California Clean Car Discount Act. It would levy a fee of up to $2,500 on gas guzzlers, with commensurate rebates for fuel efficient cars. The L.A. Times has some good analysis. Opposition to the bill comes from about where you'd expect -- the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the California Mo ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, California, cars, climate, elections, energy, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics) |
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This is a very big deal
Israel to build national electric car infrastructure |
Adam Browning |
22 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Photo: iStockphoto Project Better Place, in partnership with Renault/Nissan and the Israeli government, will build a national electric car infrastructure. A major manufacturer developing new electric vehicles with swappable batteries, and a plan to develop 500,000 battery recharging sites across the country? It's still January, and I'm ready to call this the most important environmental news story of 2008. I'm going to write more about this later, but ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, energy, Israel (all these topics) |
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Turn on, plug in, drop out
Plug-in hybrids and electric cars: A core climate solution, nationally and globally |
Joseph Romm |
22 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I have a new article in Salon, "The car of the future is here," about plug-in hybrids. The two central points of the article are: Plug-in hybrids (and electric cars) are an essential climate strategy, enabling renewable power (even intermittent sources like wind) to become a major low-cost transportation fuel. Practical, affordable plug-in hybrids will be here in a few years -- even if we don't get a technology breakthrough in batteries. ( ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, electricity grid, energy, hybrids (all these topics) |
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No, there need not be a way
The privileged attitude of the motorhead |
JMG |
20 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A Washington Post columnist: I'm not making an ideological argument here or manufacturing an excuse for American super-consumers, with our Hummers and McMansions. I'm not offering a proper answer to the puzzle proffered above either, unfortunately, but just stating the rarely acknowledged facts: Probably there should be an emissions-free car available for $2,500 (or an organic granola bar for 52 cents), but, at the moment, there isn't. There must be a way to reconcile mass car ... |
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| Topics: cars, climate, consumerism, energy (all these topics) |
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Rise to Power
Clean-tech and wind power both soaring |
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18 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:23 PM on 18 Jan 2008 Investment in clean-tech companies rose 44 percent from 2005 to 2006, and jumped an additional 44 percent from 2006 to 2007, soaring to $5.18 billion, according to the Cleantech Group LLC. Last year in clean-tech, energy generation received $2.75 billion in investment, followed by energy storage ($471 million) and transportation ($445 million). And you know what that means: "More new car companies were fi ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, energy, news, renewable energy, tech, wind power (all these topics) |
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Why Vinod Khosla is very wrong
A pragmatic view of cellulosic biofuels |
Joseph Romm |
17 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| So Vinod Khosla is not happy with with my recent attack on his (willful) ignorance, 'Khosla blows his credibility dissing plug-ins.' Gristmill has given the billionaire a platform to defend himself, but he just spouts even more nonsense in the bizarrely titled post, 'Pragmatists v. environmentalists, part I': I have been accused of dissing hybrids. I was mostly discussing Prius-type parallel hybrids and all the support they get, when one can get the same carbon ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, cars, cellulosic ethanol, electric vehicles, energy, ethanol, hybrids, Prius (all these topics) |
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Catch Us If You Canada
Canada announces new fuel-economy regs to match or exceed U.S. standards |
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17 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:41 AM on 17 Jan 2008 At the Montreal International Auto Show, Canada's transport minister announced the country will be setting new fuel-economy regulations that will match or exceed the U.S. fuel-economy standards signed into law in late December. The Canadian standards will be phased in starting in 2011 and by 2020, cars and light trucks sold in the Great White North will have to averag ... |
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| Topics: Canada, cars, climate, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Pragmatists v. environmentalists, part III
Hybrids and biofuels: The road ahead |
Vinod Khosla |
16 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Many people make the mistake of comparing apples to oranges. One has to compare futures to futures and current status to current status. All technologies improve, but some improve more than others. The Prius gets 46 mpg, while a similar-sized Toyota Corolla gets 31 mpg. One of our investments (Transonic) is trying to make an engine that (if it works!) can be placed in a Prius to produce a vehicle that will have lower carbon emissions than the hybrid Prius at ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, cars, electric vehicles, energy, hybrids (all these topics) |
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Business-y news I should write more about, but probably won't
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David Roberts |
15 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| GE is going to double its investment in renewable energy from $3b to $6b; Toyota plans to offer plug-in hybrids by 2010; meanwhile, GM, which also promises a plug-in by 2010, just struck a deal with Coskata, a start-up which will be making cellulosic ethanol from waste products. [Token acknowledgement that cars are not the way of the future, Grist is car-obsessed and in the pocket of The Man, public transit is awesome, and something about the happy motoring delusional ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, cellulosic ethanol, electric vehicles, energy, ethanol, hybrids (all these topics) |
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Pragmatists v. environmentalists, part II
Hybrid emissions: Facts and numbers |
Vinod Khosla |
15 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Having laid out my views in part I, let me turn to the actual data regarding hybrids -- both from an environmental and economic perspective. How do carbon emissions per mile driven compare for various cars? The Volt is expected to be 'less than $30,000' with a 1.0L engine. Compare this to the Corolla, with a 1.8Lengine (peak hp of 126; 31 mpg) and a price of $14,400. It's worth noting that this is in the optimistic, no-gasoline-use scenario for the Volt, ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, energy, fuel efficiency, hybrids (all these topics) |
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No joke
Land-use policy is not a laughing matter |
Ryan Avent |
14 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| It was just a fleeting moment amid the hours of presidential debate that have taken place through this longest of election cycles, but it nonetheless warmed my heart. No-longer-a-candidate Bill Richardson, in response to a question on climate policy, said of the fight against climate change: It's going to take a transportation policy that doesn't just build more highways. We have to have commuter rail, light rail, open spaces. We've got to have land-use policies where ... |
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| Topics: cars, politics, public transportation, sprawl, urban planning (all these topics) |
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Pragmatists v. environmentalists, part I
Prius: Green or greenwash? |
Vinod Khosla |
14 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I have been accused of dissing hybrids. I was mostly discussing Prius-type parallel hybrids and all the support they get, when one can get the same carbon reduction by buying a cheaper, similar-sized and -featured car and buying $10 worth of carbon credits. I was objecting to greenwashing (powered by a large marketing machine) that suggests hybrids can solve our problems. Corn ethanol, which has been heavily maligned in the mainstream media, reduces carbon emis ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, cars, electric vehicles, energy, ethanol, hybrids, Prius (all these topics) |
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The Extreme (plug-in) Hybrid: no breakthrough needed!
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Joseph Romm |
13 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here is the plug-in hybrid I test drove a few weeks ago, the Extreme Hybrid by AFS Trinity: I will be running a long article Wednesday on the climate implications of plug-ins in general and this car in particular. But you can read all about the car at this exclusive New York Times piece published today and the AFS Trinity website, which has a YouTube video of me driving the car and discussing why it matters: This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, hybrids (all these topics) |
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Meals on wheels
The Chrysler Town & Country freaks me out |
Tom Philpott |
11 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I was leafing through the Feb. Bon Appetit -- the magazine's first 'green' issue; more on that in a future 'Edible Media' post -- when I came upon an ad for something called the Chrysler Town & Country. It shows a white suburban family standing in front of their SUV and McPalace, glowing and looking happy. Dad's holding a football; 2.5 or so grinning brats are tossing around a basketball. You know: sports utility vehicle. All of that is de rigueur -- the brea ... |
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| Topics: cars, consumerism (all these topics) |
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Major advance in plug-in hybrid design
Watch CBS this Saturday for breaking electric-car news |
Joseph Romm |
11 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I was just interviewed by CBS for a possible story on plug-in hybrids on Monday. You should tune in to CBS evening news Saturday for the first coverage of what I believe is a major advance in plug-ins -- a car I test drove a few weeks back and will be free to write about here Monday. The New York Times will probably be doing a print story on the car Sunday, which I'll link to. Then CBS may do another story, which is where I would come in. This hybrid technology ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, electric vehicles, hybrids, innovation, TV (all these topics) |
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Tiny Tata
Tata Motors unveils world's cheapest car in India |
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10 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:16 AM on 10 Jan 2008 Photo: TaTa Motors The world's cheapest car was unveiled in India today by Tata Motors, which hopes that its new $2,500 subcompact will help make car ownership a reality for tens of millions of people. The Tata Nano gets respectable gas mileage, up to 58.8 miles per gallon, and meets India's emissions standards, but its introduction was met by protests from greens fearful that more-accessible autos will ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, India, news, placemaking (all these topics) |
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With Apologies to Billy Joel
General Motors unveils hydrogen-powered concept Cadillac |
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09 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:03 AM on 09 Jan 2008 Trading in your Chevy for a Cadillac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac? You oughta know by now: at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, General Motors unveiled a concept Caddy powered by a combination of hydrogen fuel cells and battery power. Following the rule that all green car technology must have an insipid name, the new Cadillac Provoq (sigh) is designed to travel some 300 mil ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, hydrogen, news, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Make electric cars, not ads
GM CEO sows doubt about Volt debut date |
Joseph Romm |
08 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest post by Marc Geller, who blogs at Plugs and Cars, serves on the board of directors of the Electric Auto Association, cofounded Plug In America and DontCrush.com, and appeared in Who Killed The Electric Car. ----- CNNMoney.com reports on an online chat with GM CEO Rick Waggoner. General Motors might not be able to hit its target to have its breakthrough electric-powered car the Chevrolet Volt in production by 2010 ... GM has already ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
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Search: Engine
Ford Motor Co. unveils greener engine |
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07 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:22 PM on 07 Jan 2008 Ford Motor Co. has unveiled a new engine technology with the unsubtle name of EcoBoost. Ford folks say the engine, which comes in both four-cylinder and six-cylinder, will deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy, reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent, pay for itself in fuel savings in less than three years, and, of course, not compromise driving performance. The company hopes to have EcoBoost engines in 500, ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, fuel efficiency, greening biz operations, news (all these topics) |
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