13 governors send letter to automakers encouraging natural gas vehicle development
30 April 2012
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced that he and 12 other governors sent a letter to the CEOs of 19 auto companies encouraging them to manufacture vehicles that use natural gas.
This letter is part of a multi-state agreement initiated last fall by Hickenlooper and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin to promote the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
The states participating in the letter with Colorado and Oklahoma are: Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
For many Americans, high gasoline prices create a financial strain in an already difficult economic environment. As governors, we share the concerns of citizens and are committed to finding solutions. A bipartisan partnership between governors and auto manufacturers in the US makes sense and has the potential to create new options for alternative fuel vehicles and transportation fuel diversity.
—Governors’ letter
Hickenlooper also announced the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) will work with the Colorado Municipal League (CML) to engage municipalities to participate in the multi-state MOU on natural gas vehicles.
CML will work with the GEO on behalf of municipalities interested in adding natural gas vehicles to their fleets. The GEO will develop a purchasing mechanism for municipalities and will work with the natural gas industry, fuel retailers and local governments to encourage the development of natural gas fueling facilities.
The partial use of natural gas along with other fuels in internal combustion engines has been known for over a hundred years. Many stationary emergency diesel generators are built to get up to 90 percent of their fuel from the natural gas pipes if it is available but run on 100 percent diesel when it is not. Every existing automobile can be equipped to burn natural gas along with a reduced amount of its regular fuel until the stored natural gas is totally depleted.
The price of gasoline can be reduced by more than half if all US State Governors forced their party to enact legislation to have each of their states erect coal and natural-gas to liquid automobile fuel factories to meet the demands of their states. The states could then tax the fuel at over a dollar a gallon and get some money that is now going out of the State and Country. This money can be used to create a fund for lending to build more such factories. Jet fuel can be made from coal at about $35 a barrel or less. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 30 April 2012 at 03:42 AM
Whether seat belt or power train, auto makers have to be beat over the head to significantly improve.
Posted by: kelly | 30 April 2012 at 06:42 AM
The elephant in the room: we have excess natural gas. We need to reduce carbon intensity. Simple solution: we replace 20% of coal usage in electrical generation with natural gas. Both problems solved.
And then the governors will be writing letters begging for better coal export facilities, and the story will begin anew.....
Posted by: Dollared | 30 April 2012 at 10:11 AM
I don't think we'll have a glut of gas if we start burning it in our cars. Besides, it's probably best to be used in fleet applications or long haul trucks where you can somewhat train the attendants or fillers. Imagine the average consumer operating a real gas pump.
I am not sure I understand the insistance that we have one fuel. I guess it comes down to the fact that there are huge numbers of shills out there working for these various industries. Or, maybe we don't want Americans to have legitimate choices such that they would actually start to think. Yes, that would be an unsettling trend. Perhaps the brain dead would actually begin to like thinking, and then our whole political system would collapse. Yikes! Thinking, who knew it was so dangerous.
Posted by: Brotherkenny4 | 30 April 2012 at 11:17 AM
Let's not get too paranoid here.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 01 May 2012 at 07:48 PM