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<p>I counted my blessings. The situation could have been worse, I realized: My fellow commuters and I could have been trying to make it home in electric cars, like the ones President Obama is constantly promoting, most recently in his State of the Union address.</p>

For almost 40 years, the world’s population has faced an indisputable fact: our energy needs are outpacing our supply. And now, the need for new energy technologies is more urgent than ever. When GE Global Research’s Bob King built his first electric car in 1972, he didn’t have the barest inkling of the energy problems yet to come — he just thought it was a cool idea. As an undergraduate at Pennsylvania’s Grove City College, King wrote a paper that claimed we would be driving electric vehicles within his lifetime. “After I graduated, suddenly I had some extra time, so...

Industrial Policy: The administration's electric car represents both the genius of American technology and the stupidity of its government. Imagine Rube Goldberg with $50 billion. Buy now and get a free 40-mile-long extension cord. It wasn't exactly Michael Dukakis riding in a tank wearing a Snoopy helmet, but it was close. President Obama, who reportedly hasn't driven an inch himself since taking office, visited a GM plant in Hamtramck near Detroit on Friday to drive a Chevy Volt 10 feet off an assembly line. It was a perfect image, as the American economy is being driven off a cliff by...

How much is a new Chevy Volt electric car worth?The sticker price is $41,000. However, with federal subsidies, you could pay as little as $33,500. Additional subsidies provided by the state of California could knock it down even lower, for residents of the Golden State. So whatÂ’s the price?$41,000, of course. The subsidies just mean you donÂ’t pay all of it. The utterly bankrupt federal government takes money from other taxpayers, and uses it to discount your purchase. Since California is teetering on the edge of total collapse, and may well require federal bailouts in the near future, taxpayers across...

The Chevrolet Volt may be wearing out its welcome. General Motors has been hyping the gasoline-electric car ever since the company showed it off to the public 1,300 days ago. The company has let countless reporters into its battery labs and given interviews with its engineers, all in a very credible attempt to show that GM has smart people with good ideas. And it has worked. GM has picked up some technological credibility and fostered goodwill with the environmental crowd. Now that GM is finally, after three and a half years, getting close to selling one, the commentariat is taking...

Pricing for the Chevy Volt, that eagerly awaited savior of Government Motors, has been set at last: $41,000! That's $8,000 more than the Nissan Leaf will sell for, and the Leaf is a pure electric. The Volt is a hybrid, running only 40 miles on a charge, the rest on a gasoline generator. In one of the most deceptive lines in the WaPo article, the writer informs us that "Although the prices are high, enthusiasts say that electric cars can reach a large, untapped market for vehicles with little or no tailpipe emissions." Oh the clever journalists, parsing their words...

The city car of the future will seat two people, run on electric power and communicate with other vehicles to reach a destination faster while automatically avoiding traffic tie-ups and crashes.

Green Car of the Year Finalists Announced Posted: Oct. 08, 2009 10:10 a.m. Steady gas prices have made Kermit's words come true: It's not easy being green. Still, despite American car buyers not exactly being red-hot for green cars, automakers are rolling them out, determined to meet government deadlines for fuel economy standards and emissions -- as well as being prepared for the next time gas prices spike and car shoppers start clamoring for the latest in alternative fuel and ultra-efficient cars. The L.A.Times says "diesels and hybrids dominate the roster of finalists for the 2010 Green Car of the...

America, are you ready for Rush Limbaugh in an electric car? The conservative talk show host has agreed to take Jay Leno's "Green Car Challenge." In the segment airing next Thursday on NBC's "Jay Leno Show," Limbaugh will race an electric Ford Focus around a custom-built track beside Leno's studio, the show's representative confirmed. The "Green Car Challenge" segment makes its debut on the primetime show tomorrow night. Celebrities who participate drive two times around the twisty track, which takes a little less than a minute to complete. By the time Rush gets behind the wheel of the zero-emission vehicle,...

Conservation: The Chevy Volt is said to be able to get 230 miles per gallon. That's if it's continually plugged into a fragile and overburdened power grid. Where will you be when the lights go out? Since most U.S. electricity generation is not carbon-free, the Congressional Research Service agrees. The "widespread adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles through 2030 may have only a small effect on, and might actually increase, carbon emissions," it observes. "If you are using coal-fired power plants and half the country's electricity comes from coal powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?"...

Alternative Energy: A government report says reliance on electric cars will do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and may merely shift our dependence on foreign sources from one set of dictators to another..."If you are using coal-fired power plants, and half the country's electricity comes from coal-powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?" asks Mark Gaffigan, co-author of the GAO report. The report itself notes: "Reductions in CO2 emissions depend on generating electricity used to charge the vehicles from lower-emission sources of energy."

Green Car Journal: As a 'Moon Shot,' the Electric Car is a Challenging Mission The race to deliver electric vehicles to the market is on and competition is heating up. But like the Apollo Program, success is likely to be measured over many years and will come at great cost. San Luis Obispo, Calif. (PRWEB) July 2, 2009 -- As we mark the 40th anniversary of successfully landing a man on the moon this month, it's interesting to note the many comparisons that position electric cars as the next 'moon shot.' There are synergies at work since, after all, the...

In tonight's news conference, President Obama said he wanted US to produce an electric "plug-in" car. Actually, he said a "hybrid plug-in car" and that is a contradiction in terms, but let’s go with what he probably wanted us to believe, (which is what the MSM does all the time....) Obama says he wants GM to produce an electric car, but at the same time his Presidential Task Force on Automobiles says "GM has devoted significant resources to the Chevy Volt." and that "while the Chevy Volt holds promise, it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in...

VW Jetta Clean Diesel Wins! by Green Car Journal Editors 11/20/2008 This is an important time for ‘green cars,’ even amid some of the most challenging times the auto industry has ever seen. The reasons are clear. In many ways, ‘green’ cars represent the future of the auto industry and the products that will enable our mobility in the years to come. It’s no longer an option for automakers to address the efficiency and environmental impact of new models, but rather an imperative. It will become even more so as environmental performance, in all its forms, becomes a greater touchstone...

THESE ARE ARE 5 FINALISTS FOR "GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR" GREAT INFO AT THE WEBSITE GREENCAR.COM

LISTEN ONLINE TO KABC Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal, is one of the top automotive writers in the country. He is often quoted on MSNBC and newspapers. Ron will be discussing with Al Rantel the Green Car of the Year, which his magazine names each year at the L.A. Auto Show. I've done some writing for his newsletter and magazine and worked on several ride and drive events. It was at a ride and drive a few years ago in San Francisco where I nailed Arianna Huffington caught in a Chevy Suburban. She was mocked...

2008 Green Car of the Year(R) Will be Announced at Los Angeles Auto Show LOS ANGELES, CA UNITED STATES Green Car Journal's Award for Automotive Environmental Achievement to be Announced Nov. 15 LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The winner of the 2008 Green Car of the Year(R) (GCOY) award will be announced on Nov. 15 at the Los Angeles Auto Show during the show's Press Days. Green Car Journal, the leading automotive environmental magazine, initiated this annual award in 2005 and it has continued to grow in significance as consumer demand for more fuel efficient and environmentally positive vehicles...

Green Car Journal: Ethanol Fuel Growing in Importance SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/31/2006 -- According to the editors of the Green Car Journal, ethanol motor fuel is picking up momentum and could be on its way to becoming a truly successful fuel alternative for millions of vehicles that otherwise run on gasoline. That's saying a lot considering the challenges that have always faced alternative fuels, including higher cost than gasoline, uncertain supplies, few fueling stations, and limited numbers of vehicles able to run on fuels other than those derived from petroleum. "What's changed is the auto...

Mercury Mariner Hybrid Named 2006 Green Car of the Year LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ --- The 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid -- Lincoln-Mercury division's first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle -- has been named Green Car Journal's 2006 Green Car of the Year. The award was presented by Green Car Journal editor and publisher Ron Cogan at a press conference this afternoon at the Los Angeles Auto Show. "The hybrid Mariner is the right idea at the right time," says Roland Hwang, vehicles policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "To regain its competitive edge, Detroit must come to grips with...

Green Car of the Year at the L.A. Auto Show LOS ANGELES, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- What do Carroll Shelby, Mario Andretti, Jean-Michel Cousteau, and the Sierra Club's Carl Pope have in common? While their interests and backgrounds are diverse, all have a strong desire to see vehicle choices that include higher fuel efficiency and lower environmental impact. Their votes, along with those of other noted jurors, will help determine Green Car Journal's "2006 Green Car of the Year," which will be awarded at a press conference held at the Los Angeles Auto Show on January 5 at 2:00 p.m....

Note: my brother has published an industry newsletter, GREEN CAR JOURNAL, for over a dozen years. I've written for it over the years. Last year he launched the slick cover version in a magazine. From his website, here is a portion of a recent interview with Lee Iacocca. ENTIRE INTERVIEW WITH IACOCCA RC: Where does politics fit into all this? Iacocca: “I’ve written two books and I’ve taken the Japanese apart because of their trade practices, but what I’ve really taken apart is that this country does not have an energy policy. I’ve gone through nine Presidents of the United...

Lee Iacocca Talks Hybrids, Fuel Cells, and Oil in Green Car Journal's Spring 2004 Issue SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Lee Iacocca, Detroit had better get going or it risks losing the hybrid market to Japan, China is aiming to leapfrog ahead of America with hybrids and other clean cars, and automakers are betting the farm on fuel cell vehicles even though the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure could stop them in their tracks. Where can you find must-read perspectives from automotive icons like Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby alongside those of environmental leaders like...