President Obama called for more use of natural gas in transportation this Thursday while visiting a UPS facility in Las Vegas. We commend the President for recognizing the immediate benefit of using a clean, domestic fuel such as natural gas: “A great place to start is natural gas,” stated Obama.…Read more

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Surprise —or not, automakers plan to ramp up hiring of US workers for 2012. There are several reasons, the first being that auto sales are on a rebound from their historic lows during the recession, during which about 200,000 workers were laid off. Much of the hiring represents recalled workers, but it’s still good news for local economies as those workers will again have money to spend……Read more

Find out how FirmGreen is contributing to job growth by manufacturing green technology in the USA: …visit firmgreen.com

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The Obama administration says that proposed higher fuel economy standards can be expected to increase vehicle prices about $2000 but that owners will save an average of $6,600 in fuel costs over the life of the vehicle.

In order to be as realistic as possible (see chart above), we made a slightly less rosy analysis but there are still real savings to be had with more fuel efficient vehicle…Read more

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A new scientific analysis published today in Science, urges a focus on methane and soot (black carbon) emission reduction to deliver the quickest and greatest range of benefits – ranging from improved human health to increased crop yields. Benefits could start being seen in just weeks or months, rather than decades, according to one scientist…Read more

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photo credit: NAIAS

At the Detroit Auto Show, open from January 9-22, 2012, electric cars and hybrids abound…Read more

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China will waive sales taxes on 49 domestically made electric and fuel cell cars, the finance ministry said last Saturday, in its latest initiative to shore up the country’s fledgling green car market. As an added incentive, buyers of locally made electric cars are also eligible for government subsidies of up to 120,000 yuan ($19,100) [...]

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Today, December 21st, Mercedes-Benz announced two new hybrid sedans. The E300 BlueTEC Hybrid (photo above) features a diesel-electric powertrain, while the E400 Hybrid is a more conventional gasoline-electric hybrid…Read more

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A recent report from the Department of Energy recommends a significant shift of government led technology investment to developing cleaner transportation energy. Beyond improving fuel efficiency, the DOE seems to have concluded that electrification of fleets represents the next best step. Why? Read more

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Neither political party stateside has put much emphasis on manufacturing policy in recent decades. But, as manufacturing has declined from about 28% of the US gross domestic product (GDP) during the 1950’s to less than 12% of the annual GDP today, the finance, insurance and real estate sectors have proven to be a less than adequate replacement…Read more

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MV Industrial Egret is now slightly ahead of her previous schedule, with an ETA at the port of Rio de Janeiro on August 27th…Read more.

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