Hi gang,
I have been reflecting on our little community and the current sorry state of political affairs when it comes to use of alternative fuels in North America. As many of you know, earlier this year our CNGchat members in Utah partnered with Questar in a resounding defeat of legislation aimed to remove most of our alternative fuel vehicle tax credits.
We have a similar situation in Oklahoma today with tax credits being in jeopardy:
So I got to thinking how we might better organize ourselves. Now, before we re-invent the wheel, let's review a few organizations that I know of which already share some of our objectives:
Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition
This is a trade association of the major NGV commercial stakeholders (fuel and station providers; vehicle and engine manufacturers, etc.). I have spoken a few times with Richard Kolodziej, who was very helpful in providing me with some data we used in our recent Utah Legislature battle. Rich has a small staff of hard-working, knowledgeable professionals who travel around the country spreading the gospel of CNG / LPG vehicles. They publish an excellent newsletter and have done great things in the way of industry lobbying in Washington.
California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition
http://www.cngvc.org/
Similar in mission to Rich's group above, this Coalition lobbies Sacramento on behalf of commercial stakeholders. They also publish the very popular glovebox guide to CNG stations in CA, AZ, NV. With the recent departure of Mike Eaves some are concerned as to the Coalition's future...
Clean Cities Coalitions
Originally established and funded by the Dept. of Energy, these Coalitions are now having to go it alone via tax-deductable contributions from mostly commercial stakeholders who are concerned about air quality and the reduction of petroleum use. Natural gas vehicles are generally embraced by these Coalitions, however they also spend a lot of effort in promoting clean-diesel retrofits, idle reduction programs, ethanol use, etc.
So what should we do?
Naturally I recommend you join your local Clean Cities Coalition. Many will accept individual members for a modest contribution. You can help with local issues via these organizations.
On a national scale, however, I feel an organized grass-roots voice of hundreds or (hopefully) thousands of NGV owners could do much in the way of shaping public policy.
What do you think?
I have been reflecting on our little community and the current sorry state of political affairs when it comes to use of alternative fuels in North America. As many of you know, earlier this year our CNGchat members in Utah partnered with Questar in a resounding defeat of legislation aimed to remove most of our alternative fuel vehicle tax credits.
We have a similar situation in Oklahoma today with tax credits being in jeopardy:
So I got to thinking how we might better organize ourselves. Now, before we re-invent the wheel, let's review a few organizations that I know of which already share some of our objectives:
Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition
This is a trade association of the major NGV commercial stakeholders (fuel and station providers; vehicle and engine manufacturers, etc.). I have spoken a few times with Richard Kolodziej, who was very helpful in providing me with some data we used in our recent Utah Legislature battle. Rich has a small staff of hard-working, knowledgeable professionals who travel around the country spreading the gospel of CNG / LPG vehicles. They publish an excellent newsletter and have done great things in the way of industry lobbying in Washington.
California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition
http://www.cngvc.org/
Similar in mission to Rich's group above, this Coalition lobbies Sacramento on behalf of commercial stakeholders. They also publish the very popular glovebox guide to CNG stations in CA, AZ, NV. With the recent departure of Mike Eaves some are concerned as to the Coalition's future...
Clean Cities Coalitions
Originally established and funded by the Dept. of Energy, these Coalitions are now having to go it alone via tax-deductable contributions from mostly commercial stakeholders who are concerned about air quality and the reduction of petroleum use. Natural gas vehicles are generally embraced by these Coalitions, however they also spend a lot of effort in promoting clean-diesel retrofits, idle reduction programs, ethanol use, etc.
So what should we do?
Naturally I recommend you join your local Clean Cities Coalition. Many will accept individual members for a modest contribution. You can help with local issues via these organizations.
On a national scale, however, I feel an organized grass-roots voice of hundreds or (hopefully) thousands of NGV owners could do much in the way of shaping public policy.
What do you think?
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