US Conference of Mayors Adopts Resolution Calling on Federal Government to Support and Expand Natural Gas Vehicle Efforts

The US Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution at its 78^th Annual Meeting calling on the Federal government to accelerate its support for natural gas vehicles. The resolution calls for the following specific initiatives:

• Enact the New Alternative to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act (S. 1408, H.R. 1835) or relevant provisions within other federal legislation.

• Enact The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users Act’s (Pub. L. No. 109-59, § 11113) provision that provides a tax credit of 50-cent per gasoline-gallon-equivalent of CNG or liquid gallon of LNG for the sale of CNG and LNG for use as a motor vehicle fuel.

• Expand federally funded Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) programs to expand product offerings of natural gas engines to meet a wider range of applications in the United States transportation sector.

Passage of current federal natural gas vehicle legislation would stimulate market expansion, economic growth, and support the buying and using natural gas vehicles over a short time period so that national economies of scale will develop, the resolution stated. Furthermore, legislation should be focused on the high fuel-use and high pollution vehicle fleets such as trash trucks, transit buses, semi-trucks, school buses, urban delivery and distribution vehicles, and shuttle buses.

Source: Green Car Congress