Federal Vehicles Guzzling More Fuel Despite Obama's Pledge to Cut Greenhouse Gas Use
Published March 29, 2011FoxNews.com
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| OBAMA'S ENERGY POLICY A THORN IN HIS SIDE ... |
President Obama's effort to reduce Uncle Sam's carbon footprint has resulted so far in nothing but hot air.
A new report finds that last year federal vehicles guzzled more gas than they had in any of the last five years despite Obama's order requiring federal fleets to reduce total petroleum consumption by 30 percent by 2020 and to promote tele-working as part of a broader goal to cut direct emissions by 28 percent by 2020.
A new report finds that last year federal vehicles guzzled more gas than they had in any of the last five years despite Obama's order requiring federal fleets to reduce total petroleum consumption by 30 percent by 2020 and to promote tele-working as part of a broader goal to cut direct emissions by 28 percent by 2020.
NOTE: IN EUROPE AND CANADA LPG/CNG HAS BEEN AN ALTERNATE FUEL AVAILABLE AT FILLING STATIONS HAS BEEN AROUND FOR OVER 25 YEARS. A SMALL CHANGE TO A STANDARD CAR ALLOWS THE VEHICLE TO USE LPG/CNG AS A SUPPLEMENTAL ENERGY SOURCE ... THE ON BOARD COMPUTER AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHES FROM PETROLEUM BASE FUEL TO LNG ... WITHOUT THE DRIVER NOTICING. THE U.S. AUTO FLEET WOULD BE A GOOD START OF PUTTING HIS MOUTH WHERE HIS HOT AIR POLICY COULD BE UTILIZED, THEN MAYBE SOMEONE, ANYONE WOULD BELIEVE THE GOVERNMENT IS SERIOUS!The General Services Administration's report, released this month, found that the federal fleet of vehicles -- not including military -- increased its gas consumption to 322 million gallons in 2010, up 7 percent from 301 million gallons in 2009, the largest yearly increase in the past five years.
Summary
- Vehicles driven more than 15,500 miles per year, or which spend time idling (such as taxies, police cars, busses, etc.) will operate cheaper on propane than on regular gasoline.
- Tests conducted by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency show that properly tuned propane engines produce 30% to 90% less carbon monoxide than properly tuned gasoline engines.
- Propane emits about 50% fewer toxins and other smog-producing emissions than gasoline.
- Propane is an approved alternative fuel listed in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
- The costs of regulating gasoline and diesel emissions, for environmental reasons, will likely increase the cost of these fuels.
- Propane tanks, built to superior standards, may be safer in an accident and less prone to leakage.
- There are now more than 5,000 public and 2,000 private propane refueling stations in the country. As well, the number of propane outlets is rising, contributing to more convenient refueling.
- Automobiles can be converted to run on both propane and gasoline, ensuring peace of mind when driving on long trips, or in remote areas.
- Propane is 25% to 30% less expensive than gasoline in most parts of the country.
- There is no significant difference in performance between propane and gasoline (propane may result in a power loss of up to 7%).
- Automobile manufactures are now producing propane powered vehicles.
- You can recover the cost of converting your automobile to propane within one year.
- Conversions to propane can be done in a day, allowing for minimal down time.
- Engines using propane can last two to three times longer than a gasoline engine.
Not surprisingly, the two agencies with the highest fuel bills by far were the U.S. Postal Service, spending $374 million, and the Department of Homeland Security and its 31,500 security and police vehicles, spending $263 million. The next highest bill came from the Department of Justice with $64.4 million.
The purchase of alternative fuel vehicles by federal agencies reached an all-time high last year, but the vehicles still made up only a fraction of the government's fleet. Of the government's 662,000 non-combat vehicles, only 10,700 are hybrids, 3,100 are electric vehicles and five are hydrogen-powered. By comparison, nearly 400,000 still consume gasoline and 84,700 diesel fuel, while nearly 160,000 use a mixture of ethanol and gasoline.
The White House noted that the 10,700 hybrid vehicles that the government purchased in 2010 was twice as many as the year before -- an increase aimed at meeting the president's 2020 reduction target.
"These are important first steps, and we will continue to take steps to meet this goal," said Sahar Wali, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
"It is also important to note that certain specialized vehicles, including law enforcement and security vehicles, are not subject to the fuel reduction goals and as a result, the data in GSA's federal fleet report is not an accurate representation of the agencies' performance relative to the executive order," she said in an e-mail to FoxNews.com.
The federal government is the single largest energy consumer in the U.S. economy, spending more than $24.5 billion on electricity and fuel in 2008 alone, according to the White House. In January 2010, the president set a goal for the federal government to reduce its greenhouse gas pollution by 28 percent by 2020.
Obama said achieving that goal would reduce federal energy use by an amount equal to 205 million barrels of oil, taking 17 million vehicles off the road for one year and saving a total of $8 to $11 billion in energy costs.
"As the largest energy consumer in the United States, we have a responsibility to American citizens to reduce our energy use and become more efficient," Obama said then. "Our goal is to lower costs, reduce pollution and shift federal energy expenses away from oil and towards local, clean energy.
HOW ABOUT STARTING WITH THE GOVERNMENT, FEDERAL AND STATE FIRST ... LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND THEN PERHAPS, JUST PERHAPS THESE ACTIONS WOULD SPEAK VOLUMES AND COMPLIANCE WOULD BE VOLUNTARY AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WOULD UNDERSTAND ... PAIN AND SUFFERING WITH CURRENT ENERGY POLICY IS:
