Clean Energy CEO Strongly Supports Senator Inhofe letter to EPA

From Clean Energy:

March 18, 2016—CEO Andrew J. Littlefair today gave his strong support to Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and the letter he delivered to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, detailing how the EPA should incorporate natural gas vehicles into remediation efforts when investigating the Volkswagen diesel emissions issue.

"Senator Inhofe has given the EPA a proven path to significantly remediate the excess diesel emissions caused by Volkswagen. Natural gas vehicles with the new 'Near Zero' engine, available on the market today, lower nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent or more over their diesel counterparts, and provide a cost-effective real-world answer to this challenge. Only a comprehensive solution including both light duty electric vehicles, and natural gas vehicles in the medium and heavy-duty trucking markets, will be able to correct the damage caused to our environment."

Natural gas fuel costs less per gallon than gasoline or diesel, depending on local market conditions. The use of natural gas fuel not only reduces operating costs for vehicles, but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 30% in light-duty vehicles and 23% in medium to heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, nearly all natural gas consumed in North America is produced domestically.

You can find a copy of the Senator's letter here. He says:

Volkswagen has until March 24 to provide the court with an explanation as to how it plans to fix the emissions problem with the diesel vehicles that the company has acknowledged violate emission standards set under the Clean Air Act. I understand that EPA has requested Volkswagen produce light duty electric vehicles as part of the settlement: in February, Reuters reported EPA "was asking VW to produce electric vehicles at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and to help build a network of charging stations for electric vehicles in the United States." While EPA has favored EVs in the past and inevitably will continue to do so, EVs are not the only answer to mitigating the Volkswagen emissions issue. If the purpose of the settlement is to remediate the excess nitrogen oxide and other pollutants emitted by compromised Volkswagen light duty vehicles, requiring light duty EV production will have little overall impact. It is my understanding that new heavy-duty natural gas powered trucks can be equipped with engines that lower nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent or more compared to available diesel engines, and that these heavy-duty vehicles, if deployed, could offset significantly more pollution than electric vehicles, and in a much more cost-effective way.