Wisdom from The Action Wisdom In Action

From Green Car Congress: "The Hybrid Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program will provide vouchers on a first-come, first-served basis to help California fleets purchase fuel-efficient hybrid medium- and heavy-duty vehicles... The program is part of the Air Quality Improvement Program established in 2007 to provide funding for advanced technology vehicles and equipment."

Here are a few thoughts:

1. Fleets are very smart to tap into incentive programs. The funding would probably not be there if federal, state, and regional funding weren't sought out, and something this comes from nonprofits and education institutions. Or a collaboration of public/private funding.

2. Air quality management is a very good thing, whether you believe in global warming or climate change, and whether greenhouse gas emissions should be the baseline or something else like nitrogen oxide, air quality will get the public's attention, and that of decision makers.

3. Hybrid technology has an edge over other green vehicle technologies and has been worming its way from the Prius to several fleet applications. Expect more of this to happen.

According to Greenwire... EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said that her 40-year-old agency is battling a new problem: Americans are taking a healthy environment for granted. When EPA was created in 1970, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River was so polluted that it caught fire. Pittsburgh and Los Angeles were choking on smog on a daily basis. And the widespread use of DDT and other toxic chemicals was killing off bald eagles -- the very symbol of the United States. The nation's rivers aren't burning anymore, Jackson said. The air is clean enough that many people don't notice it. Struggling species have rebounded. But because younger people have no memories of those days, they might not realize why the agency was created in the first place, she said.

This got me thinking and ended up as part of my Letter from the Editor...

In the recently released Kelley Blue Book survey study on consumer’s lack of interest in buying electric vehicles, one particular response caught my eye. For those interested in alternative vehicle technology, 83% cited reduction in pollution, and 83% checked reduction in vehicle emissions as primary reasons. So what’s the difference between the two? To me, a simple definition would be: pollution = smog from the tailpipe; vehicle emissions = greenhouse gas or CO2 emissions (global warming). There’s a difference between the two.