(Photo of the cost of filling up a F-150 pickup, with graffiti, from Flickr and photographer ugas1/Christy C)
Weekly Angst: With the price of gasoline climbing ever higher, Americans are seeing green. Whether it’s all economics or in part concern about global warming, train ridership is up and sales of motor vehicles are shifting from trucks and SUVs to compact cars, all to the benefit of the environment. The trend is hard to miss. Here are some news items from the past two weeks:
Train ridership up; Amtrak funding bill faces Bush veto
Amtrak ticket sales rose 15.6% in May, over a year ago, and officials say ridership is up about 11% for the year. They attribute half the increase to high gas prices. Train advocates are asking more federal money to help trains compete with airplanes here. About 1% of passenger miles are by train in the U.S., while France, Britain and Germany see 6-8% and Japan 18%. Amtrak is slow and inefficient while France, Germany and Japan have high-speed trains on dedicated tracks with special signals, allowing them to go 150-185 mph. A House-approved Amtrak bill faces a veto from the White House because it doesn’t contain reforms. Dem presidential candidate Barack Obama said he’d fight for funding with reforms. GOP candidate John McCain has in the past voted against subsidies for Amtrak. (Sources: Reuters/New York Times)
Train industry asks incentives to expand nation’s rail system
The railroad industry defended recent profits before a Senate panel last week and asked for incentives to expand rail nationwide. Saying rail profits are lower than most industries, the Association of American Railroads pointed to the environmental benefits of trains, noting that they are 3 times more fuel-efficient than trucks. An industry ad campaign says freight trains can carry a ton of freight 436 miles on a gallon of diesel. (Source: E&E Daily)
GM to close 4 truck plants, re-evaluate its Hummer
General Motors announced it will close 4 North American plants that make pickup trucks and SUVs and will add a shift to 2 plants that make smaller cars. GM reaffirmed its commitment to its plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt, and said it would re-evaluate the Hummer.
Ford Motor Co. says it will cut back on trucks and SUVs too
Ford also is following demand and cutting production of trucks and sport utility vehicles and focusing more on smaller cars like the Focus and Edge. The F-150 pickup, which has long driven profits for the company, is in less demand. Further cuts may be required, officials said.
GM to help set up filling station for hydrogen fuel-cell cars
General Motors is partnering with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. on a hydrogen fuel-cell refueling station near Los Angeles International Airport, as the first step toward a network of such stations in California. For now, it will be used by test drivers for the fuel-cell Chevy Equinox, expected to be for sale by 2014 at the latest. Fuel-cell cars emit only water vapor. (Sources: Greenwire and Reuters/New York Times)
Toyota plugs its electric/gas plug-in hybrid, expected in 2010
Toyota said it will introduce a plug-in hybrid with a next-generation lithium-ion battery in Japan, the U.S. and Europe in 2010. Sales of smaller Toyota cars rose sharply last month, the company said, with the Corolla up 17%. Hybrid sales are flat – for the simple reason that they are in very short supply, due to a backlog in getting parts. Toyota plans to open plants for hybrids in Thailand and Australia, to sell cars to the developing world. (Sources: Greenwire, Bloomberg)
Industry leaders ask for federal help in jump-starting plug-ins
Top auto officials told a forum in Washington, D.C., this week that U.S. companies need government support for R&D to compete with Asia, which dominates in development of batteries for electric plug-ins. There’s also a need for consumer tax breaks to encourage early adopters to buy this type of car and break down resistance to something new. (Bills stalled in the Senate call for such consumer incentives.) With that help, plugs-in, which are technically feasible, can become a booming market, said GM President for North America Tom Clarke. In the same week, the Bush administration announced a $30 million R&D program for plug-ins. (Source: Greenwire)
Chicago considers switching all taxis to hybrid by 2014
Following the lead of New York City, key Chicago Ald. Ed Burke (14th ) and Transportation Committee Chair Tom Allen (38th) want all taxi cabs in the city to be hybrids by Jan. 1, 2014. Cabs are replaced every 4 years. The two said they want, starting next year, to mandate that all replacement cabs be either hybrid or run on alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas, biodiesel or hydrogen. At this point there are 50 hybrid taxis on the street. I rode in one last week and the driver was please it cost him about a third as much for gas. (Chicago Sun-Times)
This is the kind of movement we need, away from gas guzzlers. Let’s hope it continues, even if high prices are a pain in the pocketbook. (Easy enough for me to say. I have a Prius.) Europe’s petrol prices are much higher than ours and they have long had smaller cars and better trains.
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