By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now

In his Jan. 27 State of the Union Address, President Obama included high-speed rail, stating, “From the first railroads to the Interstate Highway System, our nation has always been built to compete. There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains or the new factories that manufacture clean-energy products.”

He followed that up with a visit to Tampa the next day, where he stated that $8 billion in grants would be going to a Tampa-Orlando-Miami route in Florida, followed by similar rail projects in California and Illinois.

This is music to the ears of longtime train advocate Anthony Perl, a fellow with the Post Carbon Institute (PCI). The San Francisco-area institute in an apolitical think tank that envisions a world of communities and economies that thrive within ecological bounds. The president’s address spurred PCI to send Obama an open letter applauding the speech but imploring him to lead the transition to a post-carbon economy by, in part, preparing for the future with cost-effective energy, such as trains. In addition to his position with PCI, Perl is the director of the Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
Audi’s 2010 Green Police commercial during Super Bowl was ingenious and hilarious.
You didn’t have to be an environmentalist to enjoy the plug for Audi’s A3 TDI clean diesel car. In fact, the commercial pokes fun at the extreme measures an environmentally conscious police force might take:
Arresting a customer for choosing plastic [...]

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From Green Right Now Reports

GM announced today that its new lineup of heavy-duty diesel pickups will run on B20 biodiesel, which is a blend of 20-percent biodiesel and 80-percent conventional diesel that produces lower carbon dioxide emissions.

The announcement was made at the National Biodiesel Conference in Grapevine, Texas.

GM said its new Duramax 6.6L turbo diesel engine has been substantially revised to include B20 capability, as well as meet strict new emissions standards effective this year. The Duramax will power the redesigned 2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups, as well as the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. Chevrolet plans to unveil the 2011 Silverado heavy-duty trucks at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 10.

“B20 capability in our new heavy-duty trucks is the latest addition to a growing number of alternate fuel options offered by General Motors,” Mike Robinson, GM’s vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, said in a statement. “We are seeking different paths to fuel solutions in order to maximize efficiency, reduce emissions and minimize the dependence on petroleum.”

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From Green Right Now Reports

Could Nissan’s marketers have planned this any better?

Just as the carmaker is in the midst of a national tour of the Leaf, its much ballyhooed new electric plug-in, competitor Toyota finds itself in a tailspin over mysterious sudden acceleration events that now affect even its energy-efficient darling, the Prius.

The Prius, the nation’s best-selling and highest mileage hybrid car, looked to have a fruitful future, until this week, when it was implicated along with other Toyota brands in a safety scandal that grows larger with every news cycle.

The Leaf is not a hybrid, but part of the new generation of all-electric, plug-in vehicles (EVs) that will go head to head with hybrids already on the road. Due in showrooms this coming fall/winter, the Leaf is riding the leading edge of this new technology. It will offer excellent mileage as well as zero carbon tailpipe emissions (the car will still have an energy footprint related to its electricity use, which could be clean or fossil fuel energy, depending on where it is charged).

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From Green Right Now Reports

California has ambitious rail plans.

California is No. 1 with a bullet … train that is.

When the federal government recently awarded $xxx for the development of high speed railway projects, the Golden State took the big prize — $2.3 billion. California High-Speed Rail Authority chairman Curt Pringle called the award “fantastic news for California and for our state’s high-speed rail project.”

“It is an award that will lead to the creation of tens of thousands of quality jobs in the near-term and to continued economic strength and enhance our transporation network in the longterm,” Pringle said in a statement.

California, he noted, is closer than any other state or region to building the first true high-speed rail system in the United States.” The federal money recognizes California’s work in partnering with local governments and state legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to put the plan into action, he said.

Here’s a look at the states that were winners, the amount of funding, and a brief description of the projects being funded:

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Los Angeles is the most EV-ready U.S. city.

Electric vehicle company THINK has released its first U.S. EV-Ready Cities Index. The THINK EV-Ready Cities Index takes into account purchase and usage incentives – such as HOV lane access and infrastructure support, and market fit, including hybrid sales, traffic congestion, EPA air quality zone status, and potential energy sources for vehicle recharging. The index was compiled for THINK by ASG Renaissance, a market research and business services firm located in Dearborn, Mich.

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(Photo: Nissan)

From Green Right Now Reports

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today that the Department of Energy has made a $1.4 billion loan to Nissan North America that will pay for the modification of the automaker’s Smyrna, Tenn., manufacturing plant to produce the new all-electric Nissan LEAF.

In addition to producing the zero-emission EV at the existing plant, a newly built plant will make the lithium-ion battery packs to power the next-generation car.

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By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

The 2010 Lexus HS 250h doesn’t drive by itself, but properly tricked out it comes pretty close. And the HS 250h does this while getting the sort of fuel economy associated with a much less comfortable, much less elegant, much less golllleee compact car.

Lexus HS 250h

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The U.S. will finally get the better performing European version of the Focus. (Photo: Ford)

From Green Right Now Reports

AutoWeek has declared Ford’s next-generation Focus the “Most Significant” vehicle of the 2010 North American International Auto Show. The car was chosen from among nearly 40 new vehicles that were premiered.

“This was a unanimous vote, one of the few in the history of the AutoWeek award,” Wes Raynal, editor of AutoWeek and autoweek.com, said in a statement. “This car gives Ford and Focus fans their car back. By that we mean enthusiasts have been crying for the European Focus for years and we’re finally getting our wish. The car goes on sale in 2011 powered by a sporty four-cylinder engine … and we can’t wait to drive it.”

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Tesla Motors has built 1000 cars. (Photo: Tesla Motors)

From Green Right Now Reports

Tesla Motors said this week that it has built its 1,000th production vehicle. The car, which bears the unique Vehicle Identification No. 1,000, is a special-edition Roadster Sport in “Millennial White,” with a unique interior and carbon fiber accents.

The car will be on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit through Jan. 24. Tesla said it will donate the $175,000 Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of this collector’s car to several charities in metro Detroit.

“A year ago right here in Detroit we had delivered about 150 Roadsters, so VIN 1,000 is a humble but important milestone for us,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a statement. “It’s fitting to do something special with this unique car.”

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The all-new 2011 Honda CR-Z sport hybrid coupe, making its U.S. production debut at the North American International Auto Show. (Photo: PRNewsFoto/American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Judie Long)

From Green Right Now Reports

Honda today debuted the all-new 2011 CR-Z sport hybrid coupe at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The CR-Z, which will go on sale late this summer in the U.S., is powered by a 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine along with Honda’s compact and lightweight Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid-electric system. The two-passenger CR-Z will feature a new three-mode drive system that allows the driver to select between Sport, Econ (Economy) and Normal driving modes.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Until recently, critics haven’t had to work very hard at making a case against the electric car.

Most of the vehicles in question are small. Almost all either are relatively expensive or figure to be when they finally hit the showroom. With ranges between 40 (Chevy Volt) and 100 miles (Nissan LEAF), you won’t be going very far before you have to stop for a time-consuming charge.

Lately, though, progress is being made, and just how much the times may be changing will be on display at the North American International Auto Show, which opens to the media today in Detroit. (The show’s public run is from Jan. 16-24.)

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