NGVAmerica, the trade association that represents the U.S. natural gas vehicle industry, hailed President Obama’s call today for using more natural gas in the transportation sector. The President made this call at a United Parcel Service (UPS) facility in Las Vegas when he discussed his clean energy blueprint, first announced during the State of the Union address.
“ We commend the President for recognizing the very real and immediate benefit of using domestic natural gas to refuel America’s trucks and cars. Accelerating the use of natural gas vehicles will help this country become more energy independent, lower its transportation costs, and provide a much needed boost to the economy because of the abundant domestic supply that exists right here in the U.S. ,” said Rich Kolodziej, President of NGVAmerica .
In his remarks today, the President among other things called for the adoption of new tax incentives to help companies buy more clean natural gas trucks. He also encouraged transit fleets to purchase natural gas buses and called for the federal fleet to use its purchasing power to help lead the way.
The President also said his administration will continue to work with the private sector to ensure the vehicles have places to refuel, developing five natural gas corridors along the nation’s highways. “ These are highways that [will] have natural gas fueling stations between cities – just like the one the folks at UPS, South Coast Air, and Clean Energy Fuels are opening today between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City ,” the President said.
The President also said he will ask Energy Secretary Steven Chu to launch a new competition to encourage the country’s scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to discover new breakthroughs for natural gas vehicles.
The President’s remarks should be welcome news to those businesses and groups who have supported adoption of the NAT GAS Act (HR 1380 and S.1863), legislation introduced in both Houses of Congress and that would provide incentives for natural gas in vehicles. “ We hope that Congress and the President can work together to get this legislation enacted as soon as possible ,” said Kolodziej.
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LNG World News Staff, January 27, 2012