Climate change and extreme weather “a threat to our children’s future.” the President said in his address. | Photo–NWF

What with the Administration’s recent announcement of strong new fuel economy standards, regular news on automotive job growth across the country, and great August sales numbers, the auto industry revival is a success story for consumers, the economy and energy security.

It’s also powerful proof that America can man up on climate change.

Last night the President stated clearly that climate change is real and that it is causing real hardship for Americans.

He can speak with confidence because he can point to proof that American government, American business, and the American people have what it takes to turn climate change around.

Every great new car and truck you see on the road is that proof.

Loading new vehicles at Lordstown Assembly. NWF – Zoe Lipman

• It looks like hundreds of American businesses—from 100-year old Chevrolet, to brand new start-ups—showing that American innovation can deliver products with half the climate pollution in just over a decade.
• It looks like thousands of lasting jobs in communities all across the country that show that American workers can compete and win in the global economy.
• It looks like good government bringing opponents together to craft breakthrough, broadly supported laws that provide a solid foundation for investment, prosperity, and the protection of the natural world for our children.

If a combination of good government and the hard work of just one industry will cut carbon pollution equivalent to 10% of all U.S. climate pollution today, what if we all stepped up?

The time for running from climate change is over.  The auto recovery is proof of our capacity to fight it.

For more information or to take action click here

Jason Miller, Special Assistant to the President on Manufacturing Policy, Tim Warman, NWF VP of Climate and Energy, center, and Al Ebron of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium at the June 27th event.

Panels on economic recovery and innovation brought together manufacturers, educators, and leaders in labor and local economic development and a robust audience of auto sector experts. The event was opened by Administration leaders, and NWF joined White House staff and NRDC as moderators.

Panelists—and not always those you’d expect—communicated the thrill of the technological renaissance underway and the reward of rebuilding jobs and businesses in hard-hit communities. They conveyed a deep commitment to protecting the environment and prosperity for the next generation, and a shared sense that smart fuel-economy standards, investments and partnerships with government and each other mean continued progress.

The full video of Advanced Vehicles: Driving Growth is online (Part 1, Part 2), and look for additional NWF staff thoughts on the event and on the landmark 54.5mpg fuel economy standards due to be finalized this summer here on Wildlife Promise.

To see what’s happening in many more communities who are part of creating the next generation of clean cars and trucks, check out DrivingGrowth.org (NWF is a partner in this new site whose similar name is coincidental).

What is happening in the auto sector today? What does innovation mean to you? What does the future of the auto sector hold? How do we sustain progress? and what does it mean to our future?

Clean cars and trucks are bringing back jobs

Fuel saving EcoBoost engines being manufactured at Ford’s Cleveland Engine plant (credit: © Ford Motor Company)

Panel speakers talked about bringing this turnaround to life in communities like Toledo, Ohio or Greensburg, Indiana, where Honda is building its new Acura ILX hybrid. “It may seem counterintuitive,” said Vince De Zorzi of Nexteer Automotive which builds fuel saving electric power steering systems, “but during our transformation, we’ve brought back work from Mexico, Brazil and India into Saginaw, Michigan.”

“It wasn’t too many years ago that Toledo in any economic development statistic would have been listed as leading the race to the bottom, now the Brookings Institution will tell you… that we’re helping to lead the recovery…. What we’re seeing right now is … $900M of capital investment in … three facilities alone – one by JCI, one by Chrysler, and one by General Motors with its powertrain plant. These facilities are not only helping to retain about 3800 jobs, and create 1500 new jobs, the products they are producing help further the goals of environmental sustainability and fuel economy.” “We’re also seeing a diversification of our economy. Toledo, building on its tradition as a glass manufacturer, has been one of the leading centers in North America for the solar industry. And just four months ago a European company, Isofoton, came to Napoleon, Ohio where they’re making a $30M investment to build solar panels, and as they ramp up they’ll add 300 jobs.”   – Ford Weber, President and CEO, Lucas County Improvement Corporation (LCIC)/Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development Association

Michael Psaros of KPS Capital Partners, spoke about investments made by private equity, in collaboration with labor, to rebuild businesses making natural gas-powered buses and forgings for high efficiency engines that help meet new fuel economy standards: “the technology is here. America is a leader….These initiatives are to be applauded and we’re investing tens of millions of dollars behind them.”

“We started many years ago as a driveline and hydraulic steering company… As the market and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles moves forward, we’re finding that electric power steering is coming into the market far more rapidly than we thought… Like [others] we also went through some very, very difficult times. We had to transform our business model and we wouldn’t have done it without the partnership with the union, without the sacrifices, vision, and courage… they had.   As a result, we’re currently investing over $100 million in…our oldest plant, built in 1953, and converting it into a state of the art electric power steering facility, which over the next few years will supply the majority of full sized pick-up trucks in North America.”  —Vince De Zorzi, Senior Vice President Global Manufacturing Operations, Driveline Business Unit, Chief Quality Officer, Nexteer Automotive

Innovation is rebuilding America’s technological leadership

“I was privileged to attend the opening day of the …Detroit auto show this year. What I saw there was breathtaking,” Those comments from CEQ Deputy Director Gary Guzy in the opening panel were echoed by NWF’s Tim Warman, opening the second panel, who reflected that not only does automotive innovation hold one of the keys to addressing the climate challenge, but that “we’re living at a time when you can buy the best cars ever made.”

“The internal combustion engine has been around for 100 plus years, and when you look at the leaps and bounds we’ve made in technology in that time, the internal combustion engine just [hadn’t] kept pace with that. [But] the news now is that it has and it will. I spoke about the EcoBoost engine earlier, we’ll also have a 4-cylinder version of that coming out, and – I’m not at liberty say what – but there’s something after that coming – that…fuel economy-wise and environmentally will be absolutely astounding…and it will be built right in Cleveland.” —Mike Gammella, President of UAW Local 1250, Ford Cleveland Engine plant

Speakers conveyed the excitement and pace of innovation, and provided a glimpse of their particular approaches to transforming “traditional” internal combustion engine technology, and capturing leadership in the next generation of hybrid, electric and other technologies.

“We don’t clearly know what kind of power plant will be powering our vehicles out beyond 2025—will it be advanced internal combustion engines powered by gasoline on ethanol or natural gas, or advanced diesel engines, or will it be electric drive vehicles powered by batteries, or hydrogen fueled electric drive vehicles?… So frankly it’s a very exciting time to be an automotive engineer… The race is on for us to meet the challenges of air quality, climate change and energy security…The future of the auto industry will be determined by retail customers who buy these cars.. so we have to make sure that every product we develop will be better than the one it replaces.”  —Ryan Harty, Manager of Environmental Business Development, Honda

 

“Large companies and governments have a responsibility to adopt a portfolio theory in which they explore many different aspects of how to solve the problem… For a small company like ours that lives and dies by its first and second product, we are very committed to lithium ion batteries and we have to make sure that particular economic and wallet argument works best. We received a 4 million grant from ARPA-E in December 2009, and we developed a world record battery [with an energy density] of 400 Wh/kg. This is a moonshot in the electrochemistry business. …We made automotive grade cells and gave it to the naval surface warface center in Crane, Indiana, and they tested our claims. …. What does this mean for the automotive industry? Well I think good news is on the horizon. A 150-200 mile [per charge, electric] car for $30,000 or less is not too far away ….. We were founded to make a mass market electric vehicle [possible].   —Atul Kapadia, CEO of Envia Systems Inc

“Ive worked in the automotive industry for 33 years, all in the advanced battery area, and clearly this is the most exciting time… ”At our UAW battery plant in Toledo (and we appreciate our partnership with the state of Ohio) we are investing over $100M in establishing a new line for what is called AGM technology. It’s a battery that’s critical to the stop-start technology you’re hearing about. Basically when the vehicle is at at a stop light, the engine shuts off [if its not needed]… the bottom line is that technology allows you to achieve a 5-12% fuel economy enhancement. Now that AGM technology facilitates the advanced electrical capability in the vehicle, but its also a lighter weight battery than the conventional battery it replaces… and the process we use to make this battery uses less energy and emits less CO2.”   —Michael Andrew, Director of Government Affairs and External Communications at Johnson Controls, Inc. 

Partnerships, standards, investments key

The value of long-term performance-based fuel economy standards in providing a predictable climate for investment, and in building  the next generation of competitive technology and jobs was a recurrent theme in the day’s discussions. But participants stressed that government, industry and the public must continue to work together to make advanced energy and transportation a priority if America is to lead in the global economy.

PepsiCo, like Johnson Controls is one of the many companies deploying advanced technology vehicles in their corporate fleets as part of DOE’s National Clean Fleets Partnership. (Credit: Zoe Lipman)

Kapadia concurred, citing the the strong investment by China and South Korea in R&D.  He told the story of the U.S. government investment in the Human Genome Project that had generated hundreds of billions in economic activity. “I don’t think that this money we spend on claiming technology leadership is a waste… As a country we just have to make a decision about whether energy is important or not… if we can see the same kind of results on the energy side … I am convinced we won’t be only identifying problems on [the next] panel, we’ll be taking about how many different kinds of electric cars, how many soldiers and… oil dollars have we saved …and… how much have we saved the environment over the next 10-20 years.”

Gammella was frank on the benefits of the auto recovery loans: ”Understand, I work for Ford Motor Company, Ford was fine, we didn’t need a loan, however, if … those auto parts makers [had] gone down with General Motors and Chrysler, we wouldn’t be here having this discussion today, we’d be talking about the auto disaster instead of the auto revitalization.”

Speakers also flagged a variety of consumer incentives including the Cash for Clunkers program as means of helping households more rapidly purchase fuel efficient vehicles – while others stressed that growing family supporting jobs in the manufacturing sector is critical to ensuring a market for the new technologies we manufacture.

Delivering hope, prosperity and healthy world for our children

Innovation isn’t just happening in technology –people and communities are critical. Companies and the union stressed new partnerships between workers and management that are unlocking innovation on the shop floor, while educators talked about new training being implemented to suit a changing industry.

“We need to create a situation where our students are flexible enough to work in this [rapidly innovating] industry… We need to start to do not just short term skills training for specific areas, but for whole careers….

We have to cross over a watershed … Innovation is [not just] something people in universities do… innovation is often day to day activities on a factory floor. The challenge is not just to respond to the employment growth today, but create a structure for the future.” —Dr. Jim Jacobs, President of Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan

Panelists had an animated debate about ensuring rewarding and family-suppporting jobs, skills and the inspiration to young people – to enable them to build fulfilling careers in the new high tech manufacturing sector. Andrew, from Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, and Al Ebron, Executive Director of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC)  West Virginia University in Morgantown, described their respective partnerships at the high school level, while others spoke personally about the importance of communicating the changes in the manufacturing sector and reviving enthusiasm in making things.

States and cities are playing a role in education and outreach as well.  Jules Toraya, Program Manager at the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), Clean Cities-Atlanta, City of Atlanta, talked about what is happening in in the Southeast to help deploy electric vehicle and alternative fuel technologies, and his own epiphany while in Iraq on the importance of energy independence and clean energy jobs for veterans. And he gave a shout out to young entrepreneurs, citing a new electric skateboard manufacturer: “For the younger generation, we have to demonstrate and make our own value—and we are doing that.”

Gammella took a more sober view, but ended on a similar note: “There are a whole lot of people out there that don’t have much hope… We have kids graduating from college who can’t find a job …we’ve got to give these young people hope…WE have to bring it back … we have to manufacture here we have to be the high tech technology leader here. That’s what America’s all about.”

Credit: NWF

“Our goal should be to have mobility while preserving the natural world; I think we can meet that goal,” said NRDC Senior Vehicles Analyst Luke Tonachel.   Harty, of Honda, spoke about Honda engineers’ commitment to “blue skies for our children”, while Gamella, underscoring the importance of fuel efficient vehicles, said: “Bottom line is this, we all breathe the same air, we all live in the same world, we have to protect the environment first and foremost, and one the biggest ways to do that is we have to get off our dependency on foreign oil. And we can do that …in this country.”

UAW Vice President, Cindy Estrada summed it up in speaking about her two children, and the potential to build prosperity, good jobs, and healthy environment at once: “I think we’re going to get there… its not an option not get there, I want [my two kids] to be in that kind of world.”

 

(Credit:  wh.gov for Photos of Weber, Dezorzi, Andrew, Jacobs, Estrada as well as Photos of Gamella, Kapadia, Harty, Warman et al.)

How to Participate:

• Watch the White House webcast live on Wednesday, June 27, from 2:30-5:30 p.m. ET.
• Join the Twitter discussion at #DrivetheFuture

The speakers we’ll hear on Wednesday – from Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Wisconsin, California and elsewhere – show that America has what it takes to lead in the clean energy and transportation technologies of the future: innovative people and companies, advanced skills and technology – and smart policies that work for us all.

Their stories show that America’s heritage of innovation and industry CAN go forward together with stewardship of our natural resource and wildlife heritage – it has to, if we’re to deliver a better American future for ourselves and our children.

NWF CEO Larry Schweiger (left) and NWF Great Lakes Regional Executive Director, Andy Buchsbaum, at the North American International Auto Show following the Detroit fuel economy hearings in January. Schweiger testified: “Over the past two years, the hardworking people here in Detroit, and in Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, and across the country have proven – dramatically – that they have what it takes for America to lead in a prosperous clean energy future.”  (credit: Jennifer Janssen)

Driving Innovation, Jobs and the Future for Wildlife

Today, we’re facing tough financial times and unprecedented global threats to wildlife and environment. These challenges demand we move forward even faster to invent, build and adopt the next generation of clean auto technology in America – and grow the environmental, economic and consumer benefits that come with it.

The numbers are clear. Smart fuel economy standards together with investments to invent and build the most advanced auto technology in America, deliver:

• Unprecedented cuts in the pollution that causes climate change and deep oil and consumer savings: Check out NWF CEO Larry Schweiger’s testimony at the Detroit hearings for the details on pollution cuts and savings at the pump from fuel economy standards that will double our fuel economy by 2025.
• Great new cars and trucks: from the more efficient and more powerful pickup trucks that are bringing sportsmen vehicles that work in the outdoors and for it – to new technologies like electric vehicles that bring transportation and household energy innovation together.
• Hundreds of thousands of jobs and career paths for the next generation in cutting edge industries across the country: Check out Supplying Ingenuity – a snapshot of 300+companies in 43 states building technology that improves fuel economy.

How do we extend these benefits to people and environment?  What can we learn from our successes in the auto sector to rebuild more of our economy while protecting wildlife and natural resources for our children? 

What’s your answer? Join the Twitter conversation at #DriveTheFuture >>

With the Fourth of July weekend coming up, we recall that George Washington didn’t turn back at the banks of the Delaware. In communities all across the country, Americans are proving we have what it takes to lead in the coming clean energy and transportation revolution. This is no time to turn back – it’s time to keep driving forward.

The punch line is:  More oil just doesn’t help Americans with pain at the pump, but new fuel economy standards and vehicle innovation does.  How big is the difference?  It’s not even close.

Lets take a back of the envelope look at what popular “solutions” actually do about what Americans spend on gasoline– today, in a few years, and decades from now. 

What do these charts tell us?

1.  What seem like very big oil projects (which often carry big risks) cut just a few cents on the gallon in 2030 – and have virtually no effect today.  Supply and demand does work, but it works on a global scale and we’re small players in the huge global oil market. 

Like a small farmer thinking about whether to plant another 100 acres of corn, we’re price takers in the oil market, not price setters (and like that farmer, oil companies are sure hoping the price stays up, not hoping it goes down) 

2. By far the biggest and quickest way to change what we pay for fuel is to improve what we drive.  Thanks to new fuel economy standards and the innovation that is coming with them, families and businesses are taking back control at the pump.  Even if it will be five or ten years before you buy your next new (or new used ) car or truck, vehicle fuel efficiency is improving so fast that that new vehicles will bring quicker and deeper cuts in what we pay for fuel than all the drilling projects put together.    In the short term, consumers can also change how much they drive, or choose other ways to travel where good transit exists,  but new vehicle standards bring fuel savings comparatively quickly for all kinds of vehicles, drivers and lifestyles.

3. Filling up with electricity is a big deal.  Compared to petroleum, electricity is cheap, stable and secure.  While oil prices keep rising, the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA)  projects electricity prices dropping in real terms through 2030.  Though we don’t reflect it in the chart, electric vehicle technology costs are also dropping while electric engine efficiency improves.  Sure, the cost of electric vehicles today is higher than a comparable vehicle, but when you’re saving $3 on every gallon or 10 grand on fuel every 5 years, that gives some room to spare – even today.

As a CNN article pointed out this week there really isn’t much a President (or a Presidential candidate) can do about world oil prices, but what these charts show is that Americans’ household budgets and business bottom lines depend on getting their hands on new vehicle innovation.  

Lets challenge our politicians to focus on the real solutions:  Getting savings into Americans’ hands means support for the strong new fuel economy standards and for other measures that  speed R&D and manufacturing  of advanced vehicle technology in America – from pick-up trucks with powerful highly efficient gasoline and diesel engines, to electric and plug-in hybrid electric sedans.

But what about?  More details…

4.  Are those gas price increases in the 2015 graph?  Yes, the Keystone XL pipeline is expected to raise, not lower, gasoline prices in the Midwest.  Today, without a pipeline to coastal refineries, much Canadian tar sands oil is “stuck” in the Midwest and sells at a discount relative to the price for comparable Mexican heavy crude on the world market.  If a pipeline is built from Canada to the Gulf, the oil can reach many markets, and the company expects $2-$4 Billion a year in additional revenues from selling it at the higher world price. Unfortunately, that means consumers in the Midwest would have to pay that price too.

5.  Even once the cost of advanced technology is added in, more fuel efficient cars and trucks still save consumers a ton.  The charts above just show fuel costs.  Adding advanced technology to make cars more efficient does add a little to the cost of the car – but not nearly as much as consumers get back in savings on fuel. Fuel savings are about three times as big as technology costs,  so consumers still come out way ahead. 

We also left out the direct impact that the new fuel economy standards have on world oil prices. Making our cars more efficient cuts oil demand more than any of the drilling projects shown above increase supply.  As we said on drilling, these impacts are very small, but  increasing vehicle efficiency does a better job of directly impacting on gasoline prices too.

6. Choosing made in America advanced technology over continued more spending on fuel has other benefits as well.  New more fuel efficient vehicles are a key element driving a US automotive and manufacturing recovery that has added 200,000 direct jobs in the last 2 ½  years.  And when American families and businesses save at the pump they spend those savings building jobs at home.  A recent study found that respending of savings from more efficient vehicles would add nearly half a million additional jobs.

Come again? How did we get the gas price equivalent? If you buy a car that’s twice as efficient as the one you have today, you go twice as far on the same gallon of gas.  Every mile you drive, every trip to work, will cost half as much in fuel.  So the effect on your wallet is the same as if you still had the old car and the gas price at the pump was cut in half. A 5% increase in vehicle efficiency is like a 5% cut in gas prices, 20% is like 20%, etc. etc.  Taking the average fuel economy and gas price today as a starting point, we’ve calculated the reduction in how much Americans will spend on gas as a result of different vehicle changes, and stated it as the gas price you would need to get the same savings.

Methodology:  This is a back of the envelope estimate.  Sources are included in hyperlinks throughout, but in general, estimates of oil production impacts on world oil prices come from department of energy analyses (drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, adding or reducing production on the Outer Continental Shelf).   They use different base years and reference cases – but a consistent message recurs of a very small impact on world oil prices – in the realm of just a few cents per gallon that takes many years to arrive.  Impacts on gasoline spending as a result of new vehicle efficiency improvements are calculated from the fuel economy levels required in existing and proposed fuel economy standards as compared to levels today.  The change in efficiency of all vehicles on the road (new and used) requires projecting the gradual adoption of new vehicles into the existing vehicle stock and calculating the resulting average efficiency.  We relied on a stock model developed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for this projection.  We have made a conservative estimate of future electric vehicle fueling cost using current electric vehicle efficiency and EIA projected average residential electricity prices.  We do not reflect improvements to EV technology, or the fact that many utilities offer lower electricity rates for off-peak EV fueling.

The Ford Focus electric (Photo: Ford)

To highlight EV news in your community — or in your garage — click here.

Here at NWF we’ve recently been part of the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Dialogue Group — a broad group of companies, utilities, NGO’s and government involved in  EVs  and convened by C2ES. At a a recent event the group released a joint action plan to help ensure consumers can smoothly fuel cars with electricity. The event is a great jumping off place to get a look at the latest news about EVs…

Why are so many people and industries excited about EV’s? Try this podcast! Nick Nigro of C2ES chats with me and Watson Collins of Northeast Utilities.  We’re talking about the PEV event, but also discussing why the technology is exciting today (cheaper electric rates, $1/gallon fill ups, JARVIS), so tune in.

Check out the event on the web, or on storify to see what participants had to say. Or check out the Action Plan itself if you’re interested in the details.

What’s happening now on EVs?

Is my state, city or town engaged?  Click here to see many that are.

What about…? Click on the links below to see what the many PEV Dialogue Group members are doing on EVs – and remember,  we’re just a slice of the many consumers, cities, auto companies, electric utilities, NGO’s and local governments involved in this transportation transformation.

Electricity isn't just for cars. US companies are building and using electric trucks and delivery vehicles as well. (Photo: NTEA)

*The role of these group members must be limited to technical contribution because of their organizational function
Who are we missing?  Let people know what’s happening with EV’s in your community – or your garage – by commenting in the box below.  Give us your city/town and a short description what’s going on on EVs.

New efficient vehicle technology lets drivers take back control at the pump. Photo: shutterstock.com

It’s good news for wildlife to see a familiar vehicle that’s 5 times as energy efficient as the average car  today (today’s average is 22 MPG), and since it doesn’t use any gasoline at all, it’s drilling, tar sands and pipeline-free.

But with rumors of gas prices hitting $5/gallon this summer (never mind rumors, I just saw $4.99/gallon for premium in my neighborhood!), there’s another reason all electric vehicles and mostly electric plug-in hybrids are a big deal. Filling up your car with electricity costs about a dollar a gallon. 

Yes $1/gallon. This year, Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and several other automakers will offer consumers electric or mostly electric plug-in hybrid cars.

Plug-in hybrids like the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi (above) and the Chevy Volt use electricity for most trips, but use gasoline for back up to go very long distances. Photo: flickr Happy Via.

But the current car and truck renaissance isn’t just electric.  I’ve blogged before on how strong new fuel economy standards mean savings right now (like for those trading in their old F150 pickup truck for the new more efficient 2011 or 2012 model) and are bringing increasing relief from pain at the pump for drivers of all kinds of cars.

Every year new cars will be more efficient than the year before until, in 2025, a new car or truck will use half as much fuel as a new car or truck today. That’s like a cut from 4 bucks to 2 bucks a gallon in what it costs to take that spring break road trip. Taking all our cars—new and used together—Americans will be spending almost 40% less for gas in 2030 than they would without the new standards and innovation that comes with them.

In a  global market for oil, new drilling and pipelines can’t bring relief to Americans hard hit by high gas prices. But innovative new cars and trucks can. Its time to take control at the pump!

If I had any doubts about Americans’ ability to come together and literally build a better future for people and wildlife, an inspiring event last week helped put those doubts to rest. At this “Champions of Change” event, the White House honored individuals who are inventing, manufacturing, repairing and selling the next generation of transportation and energy technologies in America today.

This group of large and small business people, union leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs were passionate about making things – and they’re making the innovative – and wildlife friendly – products of today and tomorrow in America.

NWF’s Greenforce Initiative – a partnership with Jobs for the Future and community colleges across the nation – was ably represented at the event by “Champion” Rich Cregar, an instructor at Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina who is leading an effort to develop and implement a training program for sustainable transportation technologies across all of the state’s community colleges.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also attending were two of his students Sam Johnson and Devon Fowler, who are training to service and repair the complex, electronically controlled, alternative, hybrid and electrically fueled cars and trucks that are increasingly showing up on driveways and highways across America. These same vehicles will bring families and businesses big savings at the pump, improve our energy security, and reduce the pollution and risky energy projects that threaten wildlife.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cregar, Fowler, and Johnson give some of their impressions of the event in the videos above, and you can see the rest of the “Champions” in Thursday’s event here.

So why does NWF care about making the next generation of cars and trucks?

As NWF’s vehicles policy expert people often ask me why a wildlife organization has a “car guy” (or girl in my case). The answer is straightforward. Not only is NWF committed to addressing the threat to America’s wildlife, lands and waters posed by climate change and reliance on the dirtiest fuels, but NWF also has a commitment to engaging young people to be the environmental stewards, scientists, and technologists of the future. Thursday’s event helps demonstrate that clean transportation is a winner on both these fronts.

Cleaner and more efficient cars, trucks and transportation infrastructure are amongst the most powerful tools we have to cut the carbon pollution that causes climate change and to cut oil use enough to make the worst dirty oil projects unnecessary.

And building the next generation of clean cars, trucks and infrastructure is an essential part of economic recovery now, and of ensuring fulfilling career paths for young people who will enter the workforce over the months and decades to come … and who want to be part sustaining our economy and our environment together.

Also check out:

• Rich Cregar’s own blog on the Champions of Change site
• A Community College Times article with a little more background Cregar with links to North Carolina community college sustainable technology training efforts
• A glimpse of the training provided for alternative fuel (in this case biofuel) technicians

Photo: NWF M. Smith

25% better fuel economy

20% less pollution

365 horsepower

420 lb-ft of torque

Its fall, and while many of us are throwing gear in the back of our trucks for the last weekend fishing or getting ready for the opening of hunting season, new pickup trucks are showing how cutting pollution and improving fuel economy gets done. 

The fuel economy story is about great new cars, and it’s about improving what’s inside our most familiar brands –it means consumers have more and better choices no matter what they drive. 

Let’s take a close look at America’s best-selling vehicle – the Ford F-150 pickup. Americans bought nearly 400,000 F-150’s last year.  The F-150’s efficient new EcoBoost engine is getting a lot of press, but we compared all the 2011 F-150 models with the previous generation they replaced and found improvements across the board, whether you’re looking for good value, the lightest carbon footprint, serious towing power or “all-of-the-above”. 

The charts below give a head to head comparison:  A truck owner who trades in a 2005 F150 for the 2011 model sees fuel use drop by 15 to 20 percent or more under most configurations.  A 20 percent cut in fuel consumption has the same effect on your wallet as a 20 percent cut in the price of gas —– it’s like driving into the dealership paying $3.70 a gallon, and driving out paying $2.95.

The 2011 trucks also maintain great performance. In fact, the efficient 3.5 liter, six-cylinder EcoBoost—– delivers 365 HP, 420 lbs-ft. of torque at 2500 rpm and has a towing capacity of 11300 lbs —– outperforming the larger 5.0 liter V8. 

And the combination of superior performance and efficiency is making sense to customers.  More than four out of ten F-150 customers are opting to purchase the vehicle equipped with the EcoBoost V6, although it costs $750 more than the larger V-8.   Ford increased its sales forecasts for the F-150 EcoBoost further this week, and it announced recently that it would be bringing a 1.6L EcoBoost engine to the Escape SUV which would achieve better fuel economy than the current Escape hybrid.  

“Customers are prioritizing fuel economy above every other trait,” said Ford product chief Derrick Kuzak in a statement. “Ford is meeting people’s needs by offering a family of fuel-efficient vehicles.”

With overall car and truck sales up too, new fuel economy standards are looking good for car dealers, auto companies and auto workers as well. 

The F-150 isn’t the only success story.  We look at the technology and cost savings for heavy duty truck owners under the new heavy duty truck standards in our report Trucks that Work, and my earlier Better Faster Stronger blog highlights of some great cars from the Chevy Cruze to the Cadillac ELR  – that show that whether you’re shopping for cost-effectiveness or a Corvette, new cars and trucks coming to meet fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standard s are cutting pollution and protecting wildlife, saving families and businesses money,  and improving quality and performance at the same time – that’s a win-win-win.   

Chevrolet Volt with charging station (via Flickr's saebaryo)

A major announcement on fuel efficiency is expected in Washington, DC on Friday morning:

The Obama administration and major auto manufacturers have reached a deal to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks between 2017 and 2025, resolving a contentious negotiation over how to cut vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The agreement would require U.S. vehicle fleets to average 54.5 miles per gallon or 163 grams per mile of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2025, which represents a 50 percent cut in greenhouse gases and a 40 percent reduction in fuel consumption compared with today’s vehicles, according to sources briefed on the matter.

These new rules are welcome evidence that government and a broad range of interests can come together around an agreement on fuel economy standards and greenhouse gas reductions. They continue the Clean Air Act’s tradition of delivering big environmental and economic benefits to the nation as a whole.

The rules will extend the progress already being made under the 2012-2016 car and light truck rules– to deliver a win-win on consumer savings, relief from high prices at the pump, energy security and deep cuts in carbon pollution.

Vehicles That Work IN The Out of Doors & FOR The Out of Doors

Strong standards ensure that whether you drive a compact car or a big truck you can see big fuel savings, energy security, and environmental benefits. Many of our National Wildlife Federation members who are outdoor enthusiasts or work in natural resource fields rely on trucks, and high gas prices have a big impact. Standards that create a steady increase in fuel efficiency for all sizes of vehicles ensure that everyone gets the benefit of fuel savings – that families, small businesses and state agencies can all have the vehicles they need and see big savings at the same time.

And contrary to the doubters, the innovations we’re seeing today in engine, transmission and accessory technology deliver better efficiency AND better power and performance.  If enacted and implemented soundly, the standards will mean that you can have a truck that works in the out of doors and for the out of doors at the same time.

A Victory for Economy & Environment

While we don’t yet know the exact numbers, there’s no doubt the standard will put tens of billions of dollars a year back into families and businesses’ pockets to spur economic recovery , rather than flowing out of the country for foreign oil.  And innovation at home means jobs at home and competitiveness in the global auto market.

From what we know about the standard, trucks will face a lower efficiency improvement requirement in early years than cars.  But the agencies have also included measures to reward big jumps in large pickup truck efficiency.  We look forward to working with the agencies and the industry to ensure we move as quickly as possible to ramp up innovation and efficiency gains in pickup trucks.

The proposal still needs to be enacted and effectively implemented to guarantee its benefits, but the announcement tomorrow shows that we have what it takes to get consumers savings at the pump, enhance America’s energy security, build the cars and trucks of tomorrow, and bring all the parties together to get the job done.

To avoid those humid climate blues, check out planet Earth’s press statement in The Onion.

This week’s stories:

1. Highlight of the Week: Sportsmen Say No to Clean Air Act Cuts
2. Quote: Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney
3. Economic Story of the Week: Turning Garbage Into Car Fuel?
4. Editorial of the Week: Sticker Shock
5. Critics Decry Keystone XL Pipeline
6. Getting Along on the Gulf Coast
7. Carbon Pollution Reaches All Time High in 2010
8. Happening this Week

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Highlight of the Week

Sportsmen Say No to Clean Air Act Cuts

via NWF

While members of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee craft bills to delay pollution rules and promote Big Oil’s agenda, more than 300 hunter and angler groups from across the U.S. called on Congress to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to hold polluters accountable and back off House and Senate attacks on the Clean Air Act.

Citing the law’s bipartisan origins, the signers said that the act “has a long history of success in reducing pollution such as acid rain and smog that threatens fish and wildlife and their habitats.” But today, as the EPA strives to reduce airborne toxins that cause mercury contamination and to limit carbon pollution, the Clean Air Act faces new threats from a number of bills in Congress.

“Anglers across the country are getting out on the water this spring, hoping to hook the big one. But this fundamental American pastime is being ruined by pollution that is causing harmful mercury levels in many fish,” said Larry Schweiger, NWF president and CEO. “Our message to Congress is simple. Let EPA do its job and clean up the pollution that fouls our rivers, streams and lakes.”

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Quote:

World Affairs Council

“I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that.”

- Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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Economic Story of the Week

Turning Garbage Into Car Fuel?

via colindunn/Flickr

Enerkem, a Montreal-based ethanol producer, is starting up a plant in Quebec that converts waste into motor fuel with new investment from independent major oil refiner Valero and Waste Management. The plant will have a commercial scale capacity of 1.3 million gallons per year and Enerkem is on track to open another facility in Edmonton, Alberta that would produce another 10 million gallons.

As gasoline prices top $4 a gallon many companies are looking for alternatives, such as using waste materials to make ethanol. Almost all of them have to pay for the raw materials, but since Enerkem is already paid to dispose of garbage, its feedstock is “cost-negative.”

The ethanol is considered an advanced cellulosic biofuel, one that comes from plant material but not from food. Making ethanol from garbage produces lower carbon pollution than making it from corn. Corn ethanol requires large amounts of natural gas, but the Enerkem process uses heat given off by the process itself so no fossil fuels are burned except during start-up. The process also diverts this trash from landfills, where it would give off methane, another potent global warming pollutant.

More on this story: NY Times

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Editorial of the Week

Sticker Shock

(The New York Times)

via worldtechguy/Flickr

Lots of happy talk accompanied the Obama administration’s unveiling of new fuel economy stickers for cars and light trucks that will include annual fuel costs and information about emissions. The new stickers, mandatory starting with the 2013 models, are a big improvement on the simple miles-per-gallon estimates on the present label. If they were there right now, we suspect many car buyers would be experiencing a new sort of sticker shock.

Mr. Obama should hang tough. Given the vanishingly small prospects for serious energy legislation on Capitol Hill, the new standards represent his and the country’s most promising opportunity to make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and America’s dependence on foreign oil. (More…)

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Critics Decry Keystone XL Pipeline

via DianeWorth/Flickr

As the State Department wrapped up a comment period on the second round of environmental review for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, the US Department of Transportation issued a first-ever “Corrective Action Order” for the leak-prone one year old Keystone pipeline. In the order DOT’s Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety Jeffrey Wiese stated “that the continued operation of the pipeline without corrective measures would be hazardous to life, property and the environment.”

In a press teleconference critics of TransCanada’s massive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline proposal including Jeremy Symons, senior vice president, National Wildlife Federation, Matthew Tejada, executive director, Air Alliance Houston, and Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, addressed the second environmental assessment and its handling of the comment period that closed June 6th.

The State Department neglected key issues like the pipeline’s safety and route, even though TransCanada’s brand new Keystone tar sands pipeline has already had 12 leaks during its first year of operation. Also ignored were numerous requests from landowners such as Randy Thompson of Nebraska, farmers, members of Congress, and environmental groups to extend the comment period beyond the bare minimum of 45 days and hold field hearings so the voices of rural Americans could be heard.

More on this story: NY Times

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Getting Along on the Gulf Coast

via NWF

Eleven lawmakers from the Gulf Coast have formed a bipartisan caucus with its first priority convincing Congress to devote 80 percent of the tens of billions of dollars in penalty payments expected from last year’s Gulf oil disaster to the area’s economic and environmental recovery efforts. If not recovered, the penalty money will flow into the U.S. Treasury and be spent elsewhere.

Over the past decade, the Gulf Coast has suffered a litany of trauma including hurricanes, a massive oil spill, and ongoing debate over the future offshore oil drilling. Members of the caucus, which include Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La) and David Vitter (R-La) and Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La) and Kathy Castor (D-Fl), have a variety of ideas on how the money should divvied up.

Some bills recommend sending a majority of the money to Louisiana, which bore the brunt of the oil disaster’s environmental impacts, while others suggest dividing the money up based on coastline miles. It is critical that the solutions address environmental and economic recovery, which go hand in hand.

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Carbon Pollution Reaches All Time High in 2010

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that global emissions of carbon pollution reached their highest level ever in 2010. At least three quarters of the growth was mainly driven by booming coal-reliant emerging economies such as China or India.

Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist, warned that this is the highest-ever growth in recorded history. “Every year we don’t have a (climate change) agreement, every year we don’t give a clear signal to pave the way for renewable energies and other clean energy technologies, the room for maneuver to get to the 2020 target shrinks,” he said.

This is one record we don’t want to set. IEA’s announcement strengthens the need for united and urgent action on climate change.

More on this story: AFP, Reuters, Guardian

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Happening this Week

Wednesday, June 8

Markup: S. 183 Deepwater Horizon Survivors’ Fairness Act, Senate Commerce, 10 AM, 253 Russell

Hearing: “Air Quality and Children’s Health,” Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and Subcommittee on Children’s Health and Environmental Responsibility, 10AM, 406 Dirksen

Thursday, June 9

Hearing: Energy Efficiency bills, Senate Energy & Natural Resources, 9:30AM, SD-366

Monday, June 13

Hearing: Energy and Revenue Enrichment Act of 2011, House Energy & Commerce, 1:30PM, 2123 Rayburn

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