Transportation Secretary’s mileage tax idea never leaves the ground
Over the weekend, we heard that the new Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood (R), was considering implementing a tax on the number of miles people drive each year to raise the funds for road infrastructure. The idea was solidly rejected by our readers – and very quickly by the Obama Administration. One problem with a mileage tax, as Green Car Advisor points out, is that there is then no tax-based incentive to use less fuel. As the Washingto Post reports, the idea was pretty short-lived, with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs declaring: “It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration.” A higher fuel tax is the most likely option for a way to collect money to repair American roads. We’ll see if that idea has got longer legs than Lahood’s mileage tax. [Source: WaPo via Green Car Advisor ] Auto Blog: Legislation and Policy , USA Transportation Secretary’s mileage tax idea never leaves the ground originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Transportation Secretary’s mileage tax idea never leaves the ground
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Leave a commentArizona’s new governor may abandon California greenhouse gas rules
There may soon be one less state that uses California’s carbon dioxide emissions standards for motor vehicles: Arizona. Before leaving office, former governor Janet Napolitano (D) issued an executive order requiring the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to adopt the rules that would effectively push fuel economy standards to 44 mpg by 2016. Napolitano has since moved on to become Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama administration and Republican Jan Brewer is now occupying the governors mansion. Brewer is reconsidering the California rules and it seems likely that either she or the state legislature will rescind the earlier move. Sen. Sylvia Allen, (R) doesn’t think most of her colleagues support the move to adopt the California standard and they want to abandon it before the EPA reverses its original decision to reject California’s waiver application on the rules. This is a move unlikely to be followed by other states that have adopted the California rules. [Source: Arizona Daily Star ] Auto Blog: Legislation and Policy , USA Arizona’s new governor may abandon California greenhouse gas rules originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Arizona’s new governor may abandon California greenhouse gas rules
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood considering mileage tax
For years, the federal gas tax has funded the development, repair and improvement of our nation’s highways, but for the last few years, there has been an ongoing debate about whether it’s a better idea to tax drivers based on the number of miles traveled or to continue taxing the purchase of fuel. One problem with taxing fuel is that the government is mandating that our fleet of vehicles get better fuel mileage each year, so tax revenues naturally go down in the process. If each vehicle was taxed based on miles driven, the money brought in would theoretically equal the amount of damage being done to road surfaces. Problems with the mileage-based tax come up when discussing how best to track a driver’s habits. Plus, some believe that drivers of fuel efficient vehicles, which are likely to do less damage to their surroundings, should be rewarded by paying less in taxes than drivers of heavier, thirstier vehicles. Newly appointed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (R) says that there isn’t enough money being collected to keep up with the required maintenance on roadways, but increasing taxes in a recession is a non-starter. Instead, he’s considering instituting a mileage-based tax; a decision could be made as early as this week. [Source: Detroit Free Press ] Auto Blog: MPG , Legislation and Policy , Green Daily , USA Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood considering mileage tax originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood considering mileage tax
International Motorcycling Federation shows off electric motorcycles at Conference
The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), the world governing body of motorcycle racing, is holding its “Conference Meetings” and, as a way of introducing attendees to what it believes is the future, is hosting a display of electric motorcycles from several manufacturers. If you happen to be hanging out in Geneva, Switzerland with nothing to do (yeah, right), the bikes will be on display at the Crowne Plaza hotel until Sunday, Feb. 22. If not, here’s what you missed. The KTM Electro Enduro prototype was in da house looking rather sharp without all the mud . Quantya was on its hometurf and brought a Strada, a Track and their SuperMoto prototype. America was represented by the TTGXP -ready bike, the TTX01, by Brammo . Check out some of the bikes in the gallery below. Thanks to John for the tip. Gallery: FIM electric motorcycle display [Source: OtherMakes / FIM ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , On Two Wheels , Europe/EU International Motorcycling Federation shows off electric motorcycles at Conference originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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International Motorcycling Federation shows off electric motorcycles at Conference
Posted in Auto Green | brammo, entry, gas tax, geneva, green-daily, money, secretary, strada, switzerland | Leave a commentEnergy Secretary implements fast-track changes; Fisker and Tesla might benefit quickly
When Steven Chu was nominated to be the new Secretary of Energy, the general sense was that it was great to have a scientist making some decisions about energy policy. Some, though, questioned whether he had the skills to run the bureaucracy that is the Department of Energy . After a month or so on the job, the answer seems to be yes. At the very least, it looks like Chu is ready to scrap the parts of the bureaucracy that prevent things from getting done. Yesterday, the DOE announced it would make changes in the way it approves money for various programs. Most importantly for us here at AutoblogGreen, the cash fast-tracking will be applied to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. That’s the program that will provide $25 billion in low-interest loans to companies that are building or want to build cleaner cars. Remember, Tesla’s Elon Musk said recently that he expects the DOE to “disburse funds from our $350M Model S loan application within four to five months.” Fisker Automotive is also rearing to go on that low-cost model should the DOE money come through. Gallery: Fisker Karma [Source: DOE via CNN ] Auto Blog: Legislation and Policy , Green Daily , USA Energy Secretary implements fast-track changes; Fisker and Tesla might benefit quickly originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Energy Secretary implements fast-track changes; Fisker and Tesla might benefit quickly
Posted in Auto Green | advanced, approves-money, bureaucracy, energy secretary, energysecretary, green-daily, secretary, the-bureaucracy, usa | Leave a commentUSDA and EPA talking about raising ethanol blend in gasoline
Auto Blog: Ethanol , Legislation and Policy , USA Photo by dichohecho . Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0. To say that ethanol raises some people’s hackles is an understatement. Still, even with the controversy and the downturn , American ethanol policy may be moving forward. Bloomberg is reporting that new Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has started talks between his department, the USDA, and the Environmental Protection Agency focused on raising the amount of ethanol that is blended in gasoline in the U.S. For those with short memories, Vilsack used to be the governor of Iowa, a state that grows its fair share of corn. While the Bloomberg report does not mention if Vilsack differentiated between cellulosic or corn-based ethanol, he did say that increasing the blend amounts would be “one way in the short term to create new opportunities [for ethanol].” Since all large-scale ethanol prodution in the U.S. at this point is corn-based, we have to assume Vilsack is referring to that type of biofuel. [Source: Bloomberg ] USDA and EPA talking about raising ethanol blend in gasoline originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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USDA and EPA talking about raising ethanol blend in gasoline
GM racing manager proud to be building a greener Corvette
Auto Blog: Ethanol , Chevrolet , Lightweight , Racing Click the GT1 Corvette C6R for a high res gallery from the 2008 Detroit Sports Car Challenge Last year, at the same press conference where American Le Mans Series CEO Scott Atherton announced the Green Challenge , Chevrolet general manager Ed Peper announced that the C6R Corvettes would be running on cellulosic ethanol in the GT1 class. After a year of tearing up the tracks powered by non-food-sourced biofuel, GM Road Racing Group Manager Steve Wesoloski is proud of the team’s accomplishments. He also welcomes Michelin on board as the title sponsor of the Green Challenge for 2009 . Ethanol obviously remains a controversial fuel, but Wesoloski said, “It’s going to be a long time before the auto industry finds the one magic solution. In the meantime we’re all looking for answers. This [cellulosic E85] is one. We’re saying you don’t have to be afraid of ethanol.” Lessons learned converting the race car to E85 are being shared with the production side at GM. Now, with a GT2 car under development for its debut later this year, the team is working on weight reduction by using the aluminum chassis of the production Z06 and ZR1 models. Hopefully, some of those weight reduction lessons will also make their way to production GM cars. Gallery: Detroit Sports Car Challenge 08 Photos Copyright (C)2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc. [Source: American Le Mans Series ] GM racing manager proud to be building a greener Corvette originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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GM racing manager proud to be building a greener Corvette
Posted in Auto Green | a-friend-via, auto, chevrolet, corvetteracing, department, detroit-sports, governor, green-challenge, manager, scott-atherton, secretary, short-memories, sports, vilsack | Leave a commentGet Approved!
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