obama

Only three U.S. presidents in history have visited the Detroit Auto Show in its century-plus of existence: Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960, Bill Clinton in 1999, and now Barack Obama, yesterday. At various points during the day, the president lauded the ongoing recoveries of the city of Detroit itself...

"Billions of your tax dollars were spent to put a million electric cars on the road by the end of this year. You might be outraged when you hear what happened." Sounds shocking, doesn't it? Also perhaps vaguely reminiscent of 2011 and 2012, when uninformed, context-free, and factually-wrong "news"...

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce new regulations to cut the carbon emissions of more than 600 existing coal-fired electric power plants. And many analysts suggest that this regulation--which will likely spark a major political battle--will be the most...

In the ongoing battles over renewable versus hydrocarbon energy--and the associated public policies, advocacy, and media coverage--the Keystone XL Pipeline has emerged as a flashpoint. Now a long analysis in The New York Times, along with associated commentary elsewhere, argues that Keystone's...

Once again, President Barack Obama used the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night to raise the issue of natural gas vehicles as a way of promoting energy independence and cutting the impact of climate change. In his talk, Obama urged the U.S. Congress to support the construction of...

Political opponents of President Barack Obama used to sneer, "So how's that hopey-changey stuff workin' for ya, huh?" You don't hear that so much any more, but 18 months after the first plug-in cars went on sale in the U.S., it's worth looking at a different question. Will the Obama...

Unless you drive a car powered by electricity or some form of home-brew biofuel, the chances are you visit a gas-station with some form of regularity. In fact, it’s probably become so mundane that you don’t even pay attention to that little metal hose any more. But on Thursday, the...

Continuing his efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil, President Barack Obama yesterday proposed expanding tax credits now offered to buyers of plug-in cars to those who buy natural-gas vehicles as well. Given the ugly politics around electric cars and the presidential election season...

Ever since Barack Obama became president in 2008, he hasn’t been given much chance to drive a car, let alone own one. But when his presidency ends, Mr. Obama knows exactly what car he wants to buy as his post-presidential ride -- a plug-in Chevrolet Volt. “Five years from now when...

Sometime next month, the EPA and NHTSA will release final draft rules that increase corporate average fuel economy standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025. Most--although not all--carmakers have signed off on the standards, but opposition has hardly died down. The latest group to take up the fight against...

Yesterday, auto dealers met with their members of Congress to try to delay new rules that would stiffen the gas-mileage requirements for cars sold in model years 2017 to 2025. The National Auto Dealers Association made the rounds to pitch a proposal that would amend spending legislation for the...

With agreement among the White House, the EPA and NHTSA, and most major automakers (though not all), the U.S. looks to be well on its way to a corporate average fuel-economy requirement of 54.5 mpg by model year 2025. That translates to 40 to 45 mpg in real-world gas mileage, but it's still a...

In the middle of his much-publicized bus tour into the nation's agricultural heartland on Tuesday, President Obama announced a new initiative to kickstart the U.S. biofuel industry, which among other things would create more jobs for rural communities in the biofuel production chain. The...

Much debate will occur--and that's putting it politely--over the next round of gas-mileage standards, which the EPA hopes to finalize next year for 2017-2025 vehicles. Earlier this week, news reports from Washington indicated that the Obama Administration and EPA are pushing for 56.2 mpg as the...

The two Federal agencies that set gas mileage and emissions standards for future cars may propose rules that require corporate average fuel economy to reach 56 miles per gallon by 2025. News reports out of Washington, D.C., indicate that the Obama Administration is urging the EPA and NHTSA to push...

The President may be currently abroad experiencing the horror of European ramps, but his government has been busy at home ordering the very cars its stimulus program has helped to fund. The General Services Administration responsible for the upkeep of the federal government’s 600,000 strong...

Two days ago, the NHTSA said that it would require annual gas-mileage improvements of somewhere between 2 and 7 percent each year between 2017 and 2025. Corporate average fuel economy requirements have already been set through 2016, an action facilitated by the Obama Administration soon after...

Since 2008, Barack Obama has consistently promoted the goal of having 1 million advanced technology vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. The number refers to plug-in vehicles that use grid power, stored in lithium-ion battery packs, to operate their electric traction motors. Regular hybrids like the...

In a renewed push for clean energy, President Obama called for one million electric cars to be on American roads by 2015 last month. But is that goal realistic? The government released a report this week saying that by its “conservative” estimates for 2015, the electric car supply in...

The budget that will be submitted to Congress on Monday by President Barack Obama contains cuts for two clean-vehicle programs: retrofits that reduce diesel emissions from heavy trucks and other commercial vehicles, and research funds for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Whether those cuts will survive...