Archive for the ‘natural gas’ Category

Honda’s natural-gas-powered Civic GX is only offered to the general car-buying public in two states—California and New York. But today the automaker announced a third state where it’s available: Utah.

Why Utah? According to Honda, the Great Salt Lake state leads the nation in per capita natural gas refueling infrastructure and has the lowest natural gas prices in the country. Current average prices are just 99 cents per gasoline gallon equivalent. The 2009 Civic GX costs $25,090, but buyers might qualify for a double money-saver in the form of a $4,000 federal tax credit plus a $3,000 Utah tax credit.

Still, not all dealerships in...

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned that oil baron-turned-wind baron T. Boone Pickens was lobbying the Senate for new legislation to fund the development of natural gas-powered vehicles. Today, TB is likely dancing a jig after hearing that the House of Representatives passed a complimentary bill giving the Department of Energy $150 million to study cars that run on natural gas. Yeah, we could make a joke about congress and hot air, but we're feeling generous today. [DetNews]

Oil baron-turned-clean tech tycoon T. Boone Pickens has been spending lots of time in D.C. these days, pushing for a variety of changes in U.S. energy policy. Yesterday he proved successful on one of those initiatives when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), joined Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) unveiled a bill that would encourage the development of natural gas engines and infrastructure, and boost tax credits for buying vehicles that run on natural gas.

The legislation--called S.1408, or NAT-GAS for short--offers a range of benefits to consumers and developers. Most notable among them: an increase in the tax...