All Of The Above

The “all of the above” approach to embracing domestic sources of energy is a theme President Obama will continue to talk about as he heads to Nevada and Colorado today.  Politico says that the President will make an announcement at a UPS LNG refueling facility in Las Vegas that there is now a public access LNG corridor from Vegas to Long Beach to Salt Lake City. Back on the Hill, auto industry leaders and public policy makers are at the Washington Auto Show for a public policy day. In what appears to be a full schedule, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs for the Department of Energy, David Sandalow, joins Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to talk about advanced vehicle technologies.

From Canada and Brazil to the United Arab Emirates, advanced technologies and fuels are breaking out all over. First up is Ballard Power Systems which is enjoying a promising 2012, according to Fuel Cell Dispatch.  The Canadian manufacturer of fuel cell power modules will play a starring role in Sao Paulo, where at least 25 fuel cell buses will make up part of the clean fleet as the country hosts the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Dubai is taking their “Green Economy Initiative” seriously. School Transportation Services (STS), in partnership with Lootah Biofuels has launched a partnership that will power school buses that run on biodiesel.

Back in the U.S., environmental commissioners from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, DC, Rhode Island, New York and Vermont are tired of waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move on implementing Tier 3 Motor Vehicle standards and the Low Sulfur Gasoline Rule. Officials from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States penned a letter to EPA Administrator Jackson urging her to regulate harmful tailpipe pollution. Can air quality laws have an impact? You betcha (well, he doesn’t exactly say that) says Robert Harley, a Professor at UC Berkeley who is out with a study showing that regulations to accelerate the replacement of dirty trucks around the Port of Oakland are showing positive results. Harley concludes that so far there has been a 50% reduction in black smoke and 40% less nitrogen oxide.

Those Bay area types have a lot to celebrate these days and earlier this week the East Bay Clean Cities Coalition handed out two big awards. One was a recognition from the California State Assembly of the stellar work of Peter Ward, who recently retired from the California Energy Commission after 35 years. Next up was CALSTART’s very own Senior Project Manager Steve Sokolsky who was honored with the Coalition’s Chairman’s Award for his decades of stellar work in alternative fuels. Here! Here! While we are on the subject of winners, Fleet Owner salutes Azure Dynamics and Purolator. The former has now delivered its 1000th Balance Hybrid Electric Truck to Purolator, which has 555 Azure units in its fleet of 3500 vehicles. It was no doubt that kind of commitment to clean and green that earned them the Logistics Quarterly Third-Party Logistics Sustainability Award. Kudos all around.

Obama Hits the Road to Talk Oil Drilling, Politico
http://politi.co/Ajej5q

Washington Auto Show
http://bit.ly/w06bUH

Ballard Ships Clean Energy Fuel Cell Modules, Fuel Cell Dispatch
http://bit.ly/xDF3os

Biodiesel Buses on the Move in UAE, Bikyamasr
http://bit.ly/xDF3os

Blog for Clean Air
http://bit.ly/wCazgo

Old Port of Oakland Trucks Out, Cleaner Air In, Oakland Tribune
http://bit.ly/znn8yt

East Bay Clean Cities Coalition
http://bit.ly/9e6nRY

Azure Dynamics Delivers 1000th Hybrid Electric Truck, Fleet Owner
http://bit.ly/y9QkS1