On Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco approved one of the largest corporate settlements in U.S. history. Volkswagen will pay $14.7 billion to resolve most of the claims related to Volkswagen and Audi vehicles that were programmed to cheat on air pollution tests. The settlement has repercussions here in New England, and not just…
Oct 27
2016
2016
Sep 12
2016
2016
National Drive Electric Week 2016: Much to Celebrate, But More Work Still Ahead
The sixth annual National Drive Electric Week started on Saturday. Communities across the country are hosting events to celebrate electric vehicles – commonly called “EVs” – and share the experience of EV ownership. The benefits of EVs are certainly cause for a party. Compared to a conventional gasoline-powered car, EVs have lower fuel and maintenance…
Mar 8
2016
2016
Maine Charges Forward to Develop Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
This week, Maine Governor Paul LePage and Québec Premier Philippe Couillard announced an exciting public-private partnership to expand electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure between Portland and Québec City. It’s no secret that CLF and the LePage Administration have had a charged relationship over many environmental issues, but this week’s announcement shows that finding common ground…
Dec 15
2015
2015
Climate Talks, Climate Action
The COP21 talks in Paris put climate change front and center. They confirmed that climate change is both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity of our generation. Coastal cities in the United States lie at risk from storm surges and sea rise. But they have it easy. Full nations in the Pacific will end…
Dec 5
2015
2015
News From COP21: New England States and International Partners Commit to Get More Zero-Emission Vehicles On The Road
Thirteen jurisdictions – nations, U.S. states, and one Canadian province – calling themselves the “International Zero-Emission Vehicle Alliance” announced that they have jointly committed to ensure that all new car, SUV, and truck sales are zero-emission vehicles “as fast as possible, and no later than 2050.” Four of those states are right here in New England.
Oct 28
2015
2015
Charging Up: CLF and Partners Release Electric Vehicle Report for Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Region
Today, with partners Sierra Club and Acadia Center, CLF released a groundbreaking new report, Charging Up: The Role of States, Utilities, and the Auto Industry in Dramatically Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. The report can be downloaded here. The new report outlines the policy pathway states in the Northeast and…
Nov 20
2013
2013
Driving Climate Change
A version of this article appeared in the November 17, 2013 edition of the Sunday Rutland Herald / Times Argus. The biggest contribution to climate change in Vermont comes from how we get ourselves around. As a rural state we rely on cars — and they burn a lot of gasoline, producing significant greenhouse gas…
Jan 16
2012
2012
When a Fact Check Goes Wrong and Misses the (Clean Energy) Point
The rise of dedicated public fact checking services like PolitiFact, FactCheck.org and the Washington Post Fact Checker has been a generally good thing. However, these services can go astray when they decide that a statement which would be improved with clarification is “false” – a practice that weakens the “false” label when it is applied to an outright falsehood.
Aug 1
2011
2011
Darrell Issa wants to steal your (future) car
Rep. Issa (R-CA) made a fortune building car alarms. For years he was best known as the recorded voice of the Viper alarm that warned people to “Step away from the car !” (Really, this is all true, it says so in Wikipedia).
Feb 9
2010
2010
Neil Young, Environmental Visionary
The summary at the top of this blog post sums it all up: In 2009, Neil Young released Fork In The Road, an album which is dedicated to the Lincvolt project that transformed his classic Lincoln Continental into a hot zero emissions vehicle that gets 100 mpg. In this paean to the LincVolt project, Karen…